Methods and apparatus for authorization and/or routing of outdial communication services

ABSTRACT

Example methods disclosed herein include parsing a request to obtain input criteria associated with the request, the request for authorizing an outdial communication service call initiated by a message center. Such example methods also include retrieving authorization rules correlating the input criteria to an authorization result for the outdial communication service call, the input criteria comprising a first input criterion having one of at least two values, a first value indicating that the outdial communication service call is for a real-time outdial service initiated in response to an indial communication service received at the message center, a second value indicating that the outdial communication service call is for a non-real-time outdial service initiated by an application server associated with the message center. Such example methods further include evaluating the authorization rules using the input criteria to determine whether the outdial communication service call is authorized.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This patent arises from a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.12/916,189, entitled “Methods and Apparatus for Data Structure DrivenAuthorization and/or Routing of Outdial Communication Services,” whichwas filed on Oct. 29, 2010, which is a continuation of U.S. applicationSer. No. 11/253,536 (now U.S. Pat. No. 7,839,988), entitled “Methods andApparatus for Data Structure Driven Authorization and/or Routing ofOutdial Communication Services,” which was filed on Oct. 19, 2005. U.S.application Ser. Nos. 11/253,536 and 12/916,189 are hereby incorporatedby reference in their respective entireties.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

This disclosure relates generally to communication and/or messagingsystems and/or services and, more particularly, to methods and apparatusfor authorization and routing of outdial communication services.

BACKGROUND

A growing percentage of consumers and business persons rely on anincreasing number and type of communication services and technologies ona regular basis. For instance, it is not uncommon for a consumer tosubscribe to a wireless telephone service, a land-line telephoneservice, and a broadband Internet access service. With multiplecommunication service subscriptions come multiple messaging stores(e.g., voicemail, facsimiles (i.e., faxes), electronic mail (i.e.,e-mail), etc.) to monitor, read and/or reply to.

Service providers have recognized that providing a method that allows asubscriber to access their multiple and potentially disparate messagestores from a central location using a common set of access tools isappealing to subscribers. For example, in the UnifiedCommunications^(SM) service offered by AT&T® voice messages, faxes ande-mails are integrated into a common mailbox, allowing subscribers toretrieve, forward and reply to messages via telephone, or online. Theintegrated message mailbox is accessible anywhere Internet access isavailable or via any wireless, land-line, and/or Voice over InternetProtocol (VoIP) telephone.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of an example system constructed inaccordance with the teachings of the invention and capable ofauthorizing and allocating outdial communication services.

FIG. 2 illustrates example logical relationships between primary rateinterfaces, circuit groups and/or unified super-groups.

FIG. 3 is a table identifying a set of example outdial communicationservices.

FIG. 4 is a schematic illustration of an example manner of implementingthe example policy server of FIG. 1.

FIGS. 5-8 illustrate example message exchanges which may be executed bythe example system of FIG. 1.

FIGS. 9A-D are flowcharts representative of example machine readableinstructions which may be executed to implement the policy server ofFIG. 1 and/or FIG. 4.

FIG. 10 is a schematic illustration of an example manner of implementingthe provisioner of FIG. 1.

FIGS. 11A-E are example sections of a gateway configuration record.

FIG. 12 is an entity relationship diagram illustrating an exampleportion of the operations database of FIG. 1.

FIGS. 13A, 14A, 15A and 16A illustrate example database queries.

FIGS. 13B, 14B, 15B and 16B illustrate example database query resulttables resulting from the example database queries of FIGS. 13A, 14A,15A and 16A.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart representative of example machine readableinstructions which may be executed to implement the provisioner of FIG.1.

FIGS. 18A-C collectively illustrate an example gateway configurationrecord.

FIG. 19 is a schematic illustration of an example system for allocatingsub-group and outdial resource groups.

FIG. 20 is a schematic illustration of the example resource assigner ofthe system of FIG. 19.

FIG. 21 is an example table illustrating an example assignment ofoutdial unified super-group resources among unified sub-groups.

FIG. 22 is an example table illustrating an example assignment ofunified sub-group resources among a set of features.

FIG. 23 is an example table illustrating another example assignment ofunified sub-group resources among a set of features.

FIG. 24 is an example table illustrating still another exampleassignment of unified sub-group resources among a set of features.

FIG. 25 is an example table illustrating yet another example assignmentof unified sub-group resources among a set of features.

FIGS. 26A and 26B are example unified sub-group creation and editinginterfaces for the example ODRG subgroup assignor of FIG. 20.

FIG. 27 is an example outdial resource group editing interface for theexample ODRG resource assignor of FIG. 20.

FIG. 28 is an example subscriber assigning interface for the examplesubscriber assignor of FIG. 20.

FIG. 29 is a schematic illustration of an example hybrid ODRG structure.

FIGS. 30-35 are flowcharts representative of example machine readableinstructions which may be executed to implement the example resourceassigner 3005 of FIGS. 19-20.

FIG. 36 is a flowchart representative of example machine readableinstructions which may be executed by an application server to prepare arequest for authorization and/or resource allocation in response to anindial call and to provide a response to the same.

FIG. 37 depicts an example implementation of the outdial authorizer ofFIG. 4.

FIG. 38 illustrates example logical relationships between differenttypes of outdial unified super-groups and unified sub-groups.

FIG. 39A illustrates an example public circuit authorization and routingrules table having authorization and routing rules that are used by theexample outdial authorizer of FIGS. 4 and 37 to determine whether toauthorize outdial communication services and/or to provide relatedrouting information.

FIG. 40 illustrates a public circuit business exceptions table to storebusiness exceptions that are used by the example outdial authorizer ofFIGS. 4 and 37 to determine whether to authorize outdial communicationservices.

FIG. 39B illustrates an example private circuit authorization androuting rules table having authorization and routing rules that are usedby the example outdial authorizer of FIGS. 4 and 37 to determine whetherto authorize outdial communication services and/or to provide relatedrouting information.

FIG. 39C illustrates an example shared circuit authorization and routingrules table having authorization and routing rules that are used by theexample outdial authorizer of FIGS. 4 and 37 to determine whether toauthorize outdial communication services and/or to provide relatedrouting information.

FIG. 41 illustrates an example combined authorization and routing rulestables having authorization and routing rules that are used by theexample outdial authorizer of FIGS. 4 and 37 to determine whether toauthorize outdial communication services and/or to provide relatedrouting information.

FIGS. 42 and 43 are flow diagrams representative of example machinereadable instructions that may be executed to implement the exampleoutdial authorizer of FIGS. 4 and 37.

FIG. 44 is a schematic illustration of an example manner of implementingthe resource allocator of FIG. 4.

FIG. 45 is an example resource allocation control table constructed inaccordance with the teachings of the invention.

FIGS. 46A-F are example resource allocation control tables illustratinga variety of resource allocation configuration schemes.

FIGS. 47 and 48 are flowcharts representative of example machinereadable instructions which may be executed to implement the resourceallocator of FIG. 4 and/or the resource allocation methodsmathematically expressed in EQNS 1-6.

FIG. 49 is a schematic illustration of a portion of the example systemof FIG. 1 including multiple application servers.

FIG. 50 is a block diagram of an example implementation of a portion ofthe gateway of FIG. 49.

FIG. 51 is a block diagram of an example implementation of a portion ofthe gatekeeper of FIG. 49.

FIG. 52 is a block diagram of an example implementation of a portion ofthe media server of FIG. 49.

FIG. 53 is a flowchart representative of example machine readableinstructions that may be executed to handle an indial call to the calltree media server of FIG. 49.

FIGS. 54A, 54B and 54C are flowcharts representative of example machinereadable instructions that may be executed to transfer a call from thecall tree media server to the messaging application server of FIG. 49.

FIG. 55 illustrates an entity relationship between the exampleoperations database 160 and two example message centers.

FIG. 56 is a block diagram depicting example entity relationships amongsome of the data structures stored in the operations database 160 thatrelate to the example enterprise module of FIG. 55.

FIG. 57 illustrates an example hierarchy used to implement the examplemessage center directories of FIG. 55.

FIG. 58 depicts a plurality of data access objects used to access datastructures stored in the example operations database and example messagecenter directories of FIGS. 55 and 57.

FIG. 59 depicts an example logical relationship between the exampletables of FIGS. 74-78 storing information used to manage access rightsof administrators.

FIG. 60 depicts a detailed example implementation of the example logicalrelationship of FIG. 59.

FIGS. 61-64 depict example tables used to store global informationrelated to the configuration of a communications network.

FIGS. 65-69 depict example tables used to store site-specificinformation related to particular sites having one or more messagecenters.

FIGS. 70-73 depict example tables used to store message center-specificinformation related to particular message centers.

FIGS. 74-78 depict example tables used to store administrator andadministrator access privilege information associated with user accessto information depicted in the example tables of FIGS. 61-78.

FIG. 79 depicts an example logical entity relationship between theexample tables depicted in FIGS. 61-78.

FIG. 80 is a block diagram of an example system that may be implementedaccording to the example systems and methods described herein to accessinformation associated with operational databases and message centers.

FIG. 81 is a flow diagram representative of example machine readableinstructions that may be executed to implement an example method toprovision a new enterprise.

FIG. 82 is a flow diagram representative of example machine readableinstructions that may be executed to update an operations database inconnection with the example method of FIG. 81.

FIG. 83 is a flow diagram representative of example machine readableinstructions that may be executed to obtain and update communicationnetwork configuration information in connection with the example methodof FIG. 81.

FIG. 84 is a flow diagram representative of example machine readableinstructions that may be executed to configure one or more messagecenter directories in connection with the example method of FIG. 81.

FIG. 85 is a flow diagram representative of example machine readableinstructions that may be executed to implement an example method toprovision subscribers.

FIG. 86 is a flow diagram representative of machine readableinstructions that may be executed to implement an example method to addsites and message centers.

FIG. 87 is a schematic illustration of an example computer systemcapable of executing, among other things, the example message exchangesof FIG. 5-8, the example machine readable instructions of FIGS. 9A-D,17, 30-36, 42-43, 47, 48, 53, 54A-C and/or 81-86, and/or the resourceallocation methods mathematically expressed in EQNS 1-6.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

To facilitate review and understanding of the methods and apparatusdisclosed herein, the present patent has been organized in accordancewith the headings shown below.

I. Outdial Communication Service Architecture

II. Policy Server

III. Gateway Provisioning

IV. Outdial Resource Groups (ODRGs)

V. Outdial Authorizer

VI. Resource Allocator

VII. Call Transfer

VIII. Operations Database

IX. Example Processor Platform

Methods and apparatus for data structure driven authorization androuting of outdial communication services are disclosed. An illustratedexample method comprises obtaining a call criterion from a request toauthorize an outdial communication service call, and retrieving anauthorization result based on the call criterion by accessing a datastructure that correlates a plurality of authorization results with aplurality of call criteria, wherein each of the plurality ofauthorization results is selectively modifiable. An illustrated exampleapparatus comprises an authorization request interface to receive arequest to authorize an outdial communication service call, a criterionparser to obtain a call criterion from the request, and an analyzer todetermine if the outdial communication service is authorized based onthe call criterion. An illustrated example communications networkcomprises an application server to initiate an outdial communicationservice call by communicating an authorization request associated withthe outdial communication service call, and a policy server including anoutdial authorizer to receive the authorization request and to determinean authorization for the outdial communication service based on a callcriterion contained in the request. An illustrated example apparatuscomprises a processor to receive and respond to a request to authorizean outdial communication service call, and a memory storing anauthorization table.

I. Outdial Communication Service Architecture

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of an example communications and/ormessaging system constructed in accordance with the teachings of theinvention and capable of authorizing and allocating outdialcommunication services (e.g., telephone services, pager services,facsimile services, messaging services, alert services, etc.). In theillustrated example, an outdial communication service may be initiatedeither in response to an indial communication service initiated by, forexample a subscriber, a person, a third-party, or a communication deviceand/or system (i.e., real-time), or by an application server associatedwith the example system of FIG. 1 (i.e., non-real-time). In the interestof brevity and ease of discussion, throughout the remainder of thispatent references will be made to indial services initiated by a personand/or subscriber. However, persons of ordinary skill in the art willreadily appreciate that the methods and systems described herein areequally applicable to indial services initiated by, for example, acommunication device and/or system. In the example of FIG. 1, an indialcommunication service is a communication service between a person and amessage center. The indial communication service is requested and/orinitiated by a person and/or subscriber from, for example, a Voice overInternet Protocol (VoIP) telephone, a wireless telephone (e.g.,cellular), a land-line telephone (e.g., via a public switched telephonenetwork (PSTN)), personal digital assistant (PDA), Blackberry, computingdevice, communications device and/or a Personal Computer (PC). Exampleindial communication services include, for example, a subscriber and/orperson dialing a telephone (e.g., wireless telephone, wired telephone,cordless telephone, VoIP telephone, etc.) to leave a message (e.g.,leave a voice mail), retrieve a message (e.g., listen to a voicemail,retrieve an electronic mail, etc.) and/or access call tree services,etc. A subscriber may also utilize, for example, a PDA, a web enabledwireless phone, a PC and/or a Blackberry to, for instance, send and/orreceive a text or electronic mail message. An indial communicationservice may utilize uni-directional or bi-directional communications.For example, allowing a user to interact with a unified messagingmailbox utilizes a bi-directional flow of voice and/or data.

In the illustrated example of FIG. 1, an outdial communication serviceis initiated by a message center (e.g., by an application server in amessage center) to, for example, an endpoint and/or person. The endpointand/or person may be associated with, for instance, a cellular,land-line or VoIP telephone number, a pager number, a voice mail boxaccess number, a facsimile machine, a PC, a PDA, a Blackberry, an emailaddress, an IP address, etc. In the example system of FIG. 1, an outdialcommunication service may be initiated by a message center in responseto an ongoing indial communication service (e.g., a live reply), aprevious indial communication service (e.g., an alert pager message)and/or may be initiated independently by the message center. Further, anoutdial communication service may be a real-time and/or a non-real-timeservice.

In the illustrated example of FIG. 1, an example indial communicationservice is initiated by a person (e.g., a subscriber 105A) who iscurrently geographically located within a local access transport area(LATA) 110A and currently connected to a PSTN switch 115A. The person105A may or may not be a subscriber of communication and/or messagingservices provided by the example system of FIG. 1. To transport voiceand/or data between the subscriber 105A and a message center 130, theexample system of FIG. 1 includes a gateway 120A which interworksbetween the PSTN switch 115A and a packet-based network or connection125 that communicatively couples the gateway 120A to the message center130. The interworking between the PSTN switch 115A and the packet-basednetwork 125 may be implemented using any of a variety of techniques. Forinstance, the network 125 in the example of FIG. 1 is based on protocolsdefined in the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) H.323standard or the Session Initiated Protocol (SIP) as specified inInternet Engineering Task Force (IETF) Request for Comment (RFC) 2543.

To interact with the subscriber 105A, the example message center 130includes any of a variety of application servers 132. For instance, themessage center 130 of the illustrated example includes a call treeapplication server that provides automated prompts to a caller (e.g.,subscriber 105A) and routes calls based on interactive input from thecaller; and/or a unified messaging application server that playsgreetings, records voice mail messages, stores the recorded messages,allows a subscriber to check and playback messages, etc. In theillustrated example of FIG. 1, an indial communication service may berouted to a first application server, and then based upon interaction(s)between a subscriber and the first application server the indialcommunication service may be redirected to a second application server.For example, a person may access a call-tree application server having aselectable option that transfers the indial service to a unified messageapplication server to allow the person to leave a voicemail for asubscriber of the example system of FIG. 1. The transfer of an indialcommunication service between application servers is discussed in moredetail below in Section VII in connection with FIGS. 49-53 and 54A-C.

To facilitate platform VoIP sessions between the gateway 120A and anapplication server 132 via the packet based network 125, the examplesystem of FIG. 1 includes a gatekeeper 135. The gatekeeper 135 of theillustrated example is any of a variety of suitable devices for handlingthe admittance of VoIP sessions between H.323 endpoints (e.g., betweenthe gateway 120A and the application server 132). It will be appreciatedthe gatekeeper 135 may include or be replaced, partially or wholly, by aproxy server, VoIP softwitch (i.e., softswitch) and/or a softswitchhaving, possibly, a reduced set of implemented features similar to thoseof a proxy server (i.e., a softswitch/proxy server) to handling theadmittance of VoIP sessions for SIP endpoints. In the illustratedexample, the gatekeeper 135 chooses an application server 132 based upona technology prefix as determined by the gateway 120A from the telephonenumber (i.e., the access number) used by the person and/or subscriber105A to access the message center 130, and provides routing informationto the gateway 120A (e.g., the Internet Protocol (IP) address of theselected application server 132) so that the subscriber 105A cancommunicate with the selected application server 132 via the gateway120A and the packet-based network 125. For example, if the subscriber105A accesses the message center 130 using an access number of a voicemail account, or a called party does not answer an incoming call and thecall is forwarded to voice mail, the indial call is routed by thegateway 120A and the network 125 to a unified messaging applicationserver 132. Likewise, a person 105A calling an access number associatedwith a call tree is routed to a call tree application server 132.

To facilitate call routing between the gateway 120A and the applicationserver(s) 132, the gateway 120A of the illustrated example includes dialpeers to act as a start or endpoint of an indial or outdial call. A dialpeer may implement any of a variety of techniques and/or methods forterminating and/or originating calls and may be implemented using, forexample, software executing on a general-purpose or specializedprocessor and/or as dedicated hardware. As used generically herein, adial peer matches a specific dialed sequence of digits (i.e., an accessnumber) to an addressable call endpoint. For example, when an indialcall is received by the illustrated gateway 120A, the gateway 120Aselects an indial dial peer based on information associated with theindial call (e.g., the access number that caused the gateway 120A toreceive the indial call). In the illustrated example, each dial peer isassociated with a unique combination of a specific message center 130and an application server type that are configured to handle the indialcall. In addition, each of the dial peer(s) of the illustrated exampleis associated to a technology prefix that is associated with a specificmessage center 130 and an application server type. For example, a firsttechnology prefix indicates that the call seeks access to a voice mailmessaging system at a first message center, and a second technologyprefix indicates that the call seeks access to a call tree system at asecond message center.

When the gateway 120A requests admittance of a platform VoIP sessionfrom the gatekeeper 135, the technology prefix of the dial peerassociated with an indial call is passed from the gateway 120A to thegatekeeper 135. In the example system of FIG. 1, the technology prefixis prepended to the access number in the called party field of theadmittance request. As discussed below, the gateway 120A parses thecalled party field to extract the technology prefix. The examplegatekeeper 135 of FIG. 1 creates, stores and/or has access to a list ofmessage centers 130, application servers 132 and the availabletechnology prefixes with which the message centers and applicationservers are associated. For instance, the gatekeeper 135 creates andutilizes a table comprising a list of application server IP addressesassociated with each technology prefix and the current processing loadfor each application server. When the gatekeeper 135 receives anadmittance request from the gateway 120A which includes a technologyprefix, the gatekeeper 135 uses the technology prefix to determine thespecific message center and to select a specific application server 132having the correct application server type and having the lightestcurrent processing load (e.g., handling the smallest number of currentindial and/or outdial calls), and returns the IP address of the selectedapplication server 132 at the specific message center to the gateway120A. In the example system of FIG. 1, each of application servers 132periodically or aperiodically send to the gatekeeper 135 the technologyprefix(es) supported by the application server 132 and their currentprocessing load. Alternatively, the gatekeeper 135 could be provisionedby, for example, the operations database 160.

In the example system of FIG. 1 an access number is used to determinehow an indial calls enters a messaging platform comprised of, forexample, the gateway 120A, the gatekeeper 135, the message center 130,the policy server 150 and the operations database 160. In particular,the access number determines a communications path (e.g., a circuitgroup, or packet-based connection, etc.) that routes the indial call toa gateway (e.g., the gateway 120A) associated with the communicationspath. As discussed below, more than one gateway may be associated with acommunications path. An access number may be one of a variety of accessnumber types, for example, a call forwarding number (CFN), a call treeaccess number (CTAN), a re-directing number, direct inward dial (DID)number, mailbox number, etc.

The Local Exchange Routing Guide (LERG) which is published monthly byTelecordia Technologies specifies the set of legitimate telephone numberranges and maps them to specific LATAs. Based on the LERG, each accessnumber and/or mailbox number is, thus, associated with a particularLATA. In the example system of FIG. 1, the LATA associated with asubscriber's mailbox number (e.g., their telephone number) is referredto as the subscriber LATA (i.e., home LATA) for that subscriber.Alternatively, the CFN may be used a proxy to determine the subscriberLATA. Likewise the subscriber LATA associated with a call treeapplication is the LATA associated with the CTAN and/or the call treesubscriber number for the call tree. The subscriber LATA is not affectedby where an indial call is physically originated from, but is determinedbased on the mailbox number associated with the subscriber, a call treesubscriber number and/or a CTAN. Each gateway is physically located in aspecific LATA that is referred to as the indial gateway LATA. The accessnumber, thus, determines the indial gateway LATA. In the example systemof FIG. 1 the subscriber LATA and the indial gateway LATA may be, but,are not necessarily the same LATA. For example, a person located in SanFrancisco, Calif. may be attempting to call a subscriber having atelephone number based in Chicago, Ill. If the subscriber does notanswer their phone, the telephone call may, for example, be forwarded toa CFN (i.e., an access number) also associated with Chicago, Ill.). Inturn, the telephone call is routed based on the call forwarding accessnumber and to, for example, a particular circuit group and gatewaylocated in Dallas, Tex. (using any of a variety of routing techniques)thereby becoming an indial call entering into a messaging platform. Inthis example, the subscriber LATA is the LATA that includes Chicago,Ill. and the indial gateway LATA is the LATA that includes Dallas, Tex.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, a subscriber (e.g., a subscriber 105B or 105C)may be associated with a subscriber LATA (e.g., a LATA 110B and/or aLATA 110C) that is different from the LATA 110A containing the messagecenter 130. For example, the subscriber 105B is associated with the LATA110B and connects to the message center 130 via a PSTN switch 115B and agateway 120B, where both the gateway 120B and the PSTN switch 115B arealso associated with the LATA 110B. In contrast, the subscriber 105C isassociated with the LATA 110C and connects to the message center 130 viaa PSTN switch 115C associated with the LATA 110C, and via the PSTNswitch 115A and the gateway 120A of LATA 110A. In the illustratedexample, the subscribers 105A and 105B are consider local accesssubscribers because the indial gateway LATAs used to transport databetween the message center 130 and the subscribers are located withinthe respective subscriber LATA (e.g., the LATA 110A or 110B). However,the subscriber 105C is considered a remote access subscriber because thegateway 120A is located in LATA 110A which is different from thesubscriber LATA 110C.

Instead of connecting to a gateway (e.g., gateway 120A) via acircuit-based connection to a PSTN switch (e.g., PSTN switch 115A), asubscriber and/or person (e.g., a subscriber 110D) may alternativelyconnect to the gateway 120A via an access VoIP packet-based connectionusing any of a variety of proxy servers (e.g., a proxy server 116)and/or IP based networks. To the extent that an access VoIP packet-basedconnection (e.g., connecting the subscriber 105D) and the network 125both support SIP, the gateway 120A may, for example, include or bereplaced, partially or wholly, by a session border controller, and thegatekeeper 135 may, for example, include or be replaced, partially orwholly, by a proxy server or softswitch/proxy server.

While for simplicity of illustration, the example system of FIG. 1 showsa single message center 130 located within the LATA 110A, the LATA 110Amay alternatively contain any number of message centers. As used herein,two or more message centers located in the same LATA are referred to as“co-located message centers.” Further, any number of LATAs may containmessage centers. Preferably, LATAs that contain a message center aregeographically distributed, and the plurality of co-located and/orgeographically distributed message centers are connected via a Wide AreaNetwork (WAN). Moreover, a LATA and/or communication and/or messagingsystem may contain any number of gateways and/or gatekeepers, and anyPSTN switch may connect to any number of gateways. Additionally, thepolicy server 150 may be clustered into a plurality of communicationand/or computing devices such that each of the plurality ofcommunication and/or computing devices is assigned to authorizationand/or resource allocation for a pre-determined set of unifiedsub-groups, unified super-groups and/or LATAs. For example, when a LATAis not assigned to a particular one of the plurality of communicationand/or computing devices, it will communicate with other one(s) of theplurality of communication and/or computing devices that handleauthorization and/or resource allocation for the LATA. It will bereadily apparent to persons of ordinary skill in the art that otherdistributed implementations of the policy server 150 may be utilized.

The connections and devices connecting a subscriber to a gateway will bereferred to herein as the access network for the subscriber. Forexample, the circuit-based connection from the subscriber 105C to thePSTN switch 115C, the PSTN switch 115C, the connection from the PSTNswitch 115C to the PSTN switch 115A, and the PSTN switch 115A constitutethe access network associated with the subscriber 105C. Likewise, thepacket-based connection from the subscriber 105D to the proxy server116, the packet-based connection from the subscriber 105D to the gateway120A and the proxy server 116 itself form the access network forsubscriber 105D in that subscriber's current location. In the example ofFIG. 1, an indial communication service is routed within an accessnetwork using any applicable technique suitable for that particularaccess network and/or technology.

To connect access networks with gateways for indial communicationservices, the example system of FIG. 1 employs shared indialcommunication facilities (e.g., a circuit-based communication facility145A, a packet-based communication facility 147, etc.) which areprovisioned for indial communication services. That is, a plurality ofsubscribers currently located within a LATA (e.g., the LATA 110B) andconnected to a PSTN switch (e.g., the PSTN switch 115B) contend for andshare one or more communication facilities (e.g., a facility 145B) toconnect with one or more gateways (e.g., a gateway 120B). Statistically,all of the plurality of subscribers associated with the LATA 110B willnot have simultaneous active indial communication services and, thus,the number of indial communication services concurrently supported bythe shared facility 145B may be less than the number of subscribers.

In the illustrated example of FIG. 1, the access network currentlyassociated with a subscriber utilizes a portion of a shared indialcommunication facility, if available, to connect a subscriber with agateway and message center. As such, the access network(s) isresponsible for allocating and managing the utilization of sharedcommunication facilities available and provisioned for indialcommunication services.

In the example system of FIG. 1, circuit-based shared communicationfacilities are based on circuit groups. As used herein, a circuit groupis a logical reference to one or more primary rate interfaces (PRIs)(e.g., Digital Signal Level 1 (DS1) circuits) emanating from, forexample, a PSTN switch that uniquely serve a common set of accessnumbers that share the resources provided by the circuit group. Asdescribed above, a PSTN switch may connect to one or more gateways inany of a variety of configurations. For example, a PSTN switch mayconnect via two circuit groups to two gateways, wherein each circuitgroup is associated with respective ones of the gateways; a PSTN switchmay connect to multiple gateways via a single circuit group; multiplePSTN switches may connect via multiple circuit groups to a singlegateway; etc. It will be readily apparent to persons of ordinary skillin the art that a circuit group may also be referred to as a trunkgroup.

Circuit groups in the illustrated example of FIG. 1 may be distinguishedbased upon their usage. For example, indial circuit groups areprovisioned and available for indial communication services. Outdialcircuit groups are provisioned and available for outdial communicationservices. Flexible circuit groups are provisioned and available forindial and/or outdial communication services. As described above, anindial circuit group may support bi-directional transport of voice, dataand/or other services and, thus, use of the term “indial” indicates thatthe service is initiated from outside the message center 130. Asdescribed below, outdial communication services are initiated by themessage center 130 (e.g., by an application server 132) and may alsoinclude bi-directional transport of voice, data and/or other services.In the example of FIG. 1, an outdial communication service may beinitiated by the message center 130 in response to an indialcommunication service (i.e., real-time) and/or may be independentlyinitiated by the message center 130 (i.e., non-real-time).

As used in this patent, a unified super-group is a logical reference toone or more circuit groups and/or packet-based connections and/ornetworks, and unified super-groups are classified as either an indialunified super-group or an outdial unified super-group. An indial unifiedsuper-group may transport indial communication services and logicallyincludes indial circuit groups and/or packet-based connections. Anoutdial unified super-group may logically include outdial circuit groupsand/or packet-based connections that may transport outdial communicationservices and/or flexible circuit groups and/or packet-based connectionsthat may transport either indial and/or outdial communication services.

FIG. 2 illustrates example logical relationships between PRIs, circuitgroups and unified super-groups. In the illustrated example, a firstgateway 205A is physically connected to one or more PSTN switches viaPRIs 210A, 210B and 210C. A second gateway 205B is physically connectedto one or more PSTN switches via PRIs 210D, 210E, 210F and 210G. Anexample indial circuit group 215A is a logical reference to PRI 210A andPRI 210B. An example outdial circuit group 215B is a logical referenceto PRI 210C and PRI 210D. An example flexible circuit group 215C is alogical reference to PRIs 210E, 210F and 210G. Likewise, an exampleindial unified super-group 220A is logically comprised of indial circuitgroup 215A. An example outdial unified super-group 220B is logicallycomprised of outdial circuit group 215B and flexible circuit group 215Cand contains constituent PRIs 210C-G that connect to multiple gateways(i.e., gateways 205A and 205B).

As illustrated in FIG. 2, unified sub-groups (e.g., unified sub-groups225A and 225B) are logically constructed as portions of an outdialunified super-group (e.g., the outdial unified super-group 220B). In theexample system of FIG. 1, unified sub-groups provide a furtherabstracted logical reference to unified super-group resources andprovide a method for controlling and/or managing the number and/or typesof outdial communications that may be active. Each outdial unifiedsuper-group can be split into one or more unified sub-groups such thatthe sum of the capacities of the unified sub-groups does not exceed thecapacity of the outdial unified super-group. Unified sub-groups arediscussed in more detail below in Section IV in connection with FIGS.19-36.

As described in greater detail below, the example system of FIG. 1 maybe implemented using one or more types of outdial and/or indial unifiedsuper-groups (e.g., one or more types of the outdial unified super-group220B) and/or unified sub-groups (e.g., one or more types of the outdialunified sub-groups 225A and 225B). For instance, the example system mayinclude a public type of outdial unified sub-group (i.e., a publicoutdial unified sub-group), a private type of outdial unified sub-group(i.e., a private outdial unified sub-group), and/or a shared type ofoutdial unified sub-group (i.e., a shared outdial unified sub-group),all of which are described in detail below. Generally, public unifiedsub-groups are comprised circuit groups for use by mass marketsubscribers of the example system of FIG. 1, but may also be used byenterprise customers. Private unified sub-groups are comprised ofcircuit groups owned and/or leased by a private enterprise (i.e., anenterprise client) and/or an alternative communications and/or messagingservice provider. Shared unified sub-groups may be utilized by a privateenterprise desiring a dedicated number of resources without owningand/or leasing specific circuit groups. As discussed below in Section Vin connection with FIGS. 37-43, the authorization and/or routing rulesmay be different depending upon the use of private, public and/or sharedunified sub-groups. It will be readily apparent to persons of ordinaryskill in the art that additional types of unified sub-groups could bedefined. For example, a VoIP unified sub-group that connects a SIP basedaccess VoIP network via a session border controller to a platform VoIPnetwork.

In the illustrated example of FIG. 1, each unified sub-group may befurther classified into one or more classes based on one or moreattributes, for example, a long distance class, a local class, a classthat supports link release (i.e., Two B-Channel Transfer (TBCT)), aone-way class, a two-way class, etc. In the example system of FIG. 1there may be more than one unified sub-group within any particular LATAand each of the unified sub-groups may belong to different sets ofclasses. For instance, a unified sub-group may be both a one-way and alocal unified sub-group. In the illustrated example of FIG. 1, routingselection will be based on, among other things, the type(s) and/orclass(es) of unified sub-group(s) associated with an ODRG and an outdialcommunication service type (i.e., feature) and the class(es) to which aunified sub-group belongs are inherited from the underlying unifiedsuper-group.

It will be readily apparent to persons of ordinary skill in the art thatFIG. 2 illustrates example logical relationships that may or may not beimplemented within any particular communication system. For instance, inthe example system of FIG. 1, an outdial unified super-group logicallyincludes either one-way or two-way circuit groups, not a mixture; onlyshared unified super-groups are associated with more than one unifiedsub-group; shared unified sub-groups can not contain two-way circuitgroups; etc.

Returning to FIG. 1, gateways (e.g., the gateways 120A and 120B) areimplemented using Cisco Communication System 5400 Gateways, and unifiedsuper-groups are realized as Cisco trunk group identifiers that maycomprise, like unified super-groups, one or more circuit groups.

Outdial communication services are initiated by the message center 130to an endpoint (e.g., a called endpoint 106, the persons and/orsubscribers 105A, 105B, 105C and 105D, etc.). In the example of FIG. 1,an endpoint may be associated with a cellular, land-line or VoIPtelephone number, a pager number, a voice mail box access number, afacsimile machine, a PC, a PDA, an email address, an IP address, etc. Anendpoint may communicate with the message center 130 via any of avariety of access networks (e.g., circuit-based, packet-based, etc.).Further, an endpoint may be a local endpoint (i.e., if the accessnetwork currently associated with the endpoint is located within thesame LATA as the gateway serving the endpoint) or a remote endpoint(i.e., if the current access network for the endpoint is located in adifferent LATA from the gateway serving the endpoint).

Some outdial communication services are initiated by the message center130 in response to a current indial communication service (e.g., a livereply), or a previous indial communication service (e.g., setting a timefor a future pager notification). Other outdial communication servicesare initiated independently by the message center 130. Further, someoutdial communication services are real-time and some are non-real-time.An example set of outdial communication services is listed in FIG. 3.For instance, when the message center 130 receives a voicemail messagefor a subscriber, the message center 130 may send a notification to asubscriber's pager notifying them that a new voicemail has been received(i.e., pager notification outdial communication service). The messagecenter 130 may also allow a subscriber reviewing a message to connect tothe party who left the message (i.e., live reply outdial communicationservice), etc. Persons of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate thatother services not shown in FIG. 3 may also be supported.

In the example of FIG. 1, when the message center 130 (e.g., one of theapplication servers 132) initiates an outdial communication service, itrequests an authorization, routing and allocation of a communicationpath between the application server 132 and a called endpoint (e.g., theendpoint 106). For example, for a communication from the applicationserver 132 to reach the endpoint 106, a communication path comprisingthe gateway 120B, a portion of an outdial unified super-group associatedwith the shared communication resource 145B, and the access networkassociated with the endpoint 106 may be authorized, routed andallocated. To handle the authorization, routing, and allocation ofshared outdial unified super-groups for outdial communication services,the example system of FIG. 1 includes a policy and resource controlserver 150 (i.e., the policy server 150). In the illustrated example,the policy server 150 interacts with an application server (e.g., theapplication server 132) to authorize, route and allocate resources to aninitiated outdial communication service. As described herein, the policyserver 150 is used to authorize and/or allocated resources to outdialcalls. However, persons of ordinary skill in the art will readilyappreciate that the policy server 150 could also be used to admit indialcalls, thus, allowing two-way unified sub-groups too have dedicatedoutdial capacity in addition to indial capacity. For instance, asoftswitch or gatekeeper could contact the policy server 150 beforeadmitting an indial call. Example interactions between an example policyserver and an example application server are discussed below in SectionII in connection with FIGS. 4-9.

To store database objects specifying the entities and communicationresources comprising the example system of FIG. 1, the example system ofFIG. 1 includes an operations database 160 that contains and specifies,among other things, mappings of PRIs to gateways, mappings of PRIs tocircuit groups, mappings of circuit groups to unified super-groups,mappings of unified sub-groups to unified super-groups, mappings ofaccess numbers, application servers, gatekeepers, etc. In theillustrated example, the operations database 160 is an Oracle basedrelational database and uses, among other things, the one-to-manyfeature of relational databases. That is, the operations database 160uses primary and foreign keys to allow easy access of data, avoidduplication of data, and to promote data consistency. It will beapparent to persons of ordinary skill in the art that the operationsdatabase 160 could be implemented using any of a variety ofmethodologies and/or tools. For example, the operations database 160could be implemented using Microsoft Access.

Information from the database 160 is loaded into and/or is accessible bythe policy server 150. To provide a provisioning/configuration interfaceto the operations database 160, the example system of FIG. 1 includesgraphical and/or command line user interface (UI) 170. Alternatively,data may be imported into the operations database 160 by mapping circuitinformation contained in a telephony circuit table provided by atelephone company (i.e., a telco) to appropriate elements and/or entriesin the operations database 160.

A description of an example database 160, example interactions betweenthe policy server 150 and the database 160, and an example UI 170 arefound below in Section VIII in connection with FIGS. 55-86. Informationfrom the database 160 may be used to provision and/or configuregateways, gatekeepers, proxy servers, session border controllers and/orsoftswitches. A description of example interactions between the database160 and gateways, proxy servers, session border controllers and/orsoftswitches are found below in Section III in connection with FIGS.10-18.

In the example system of FIG. 1, each subscriber, CTAN (i.e., thetelephone number used to reach and/or access a call tree directly)and/or call tree subscriber number (i.e., a telephone number that isre-directed to a CTAN) is assigned an ODRG. The ODRG, among otherthings, defines one or more outdial unified sub-groups types (e.g.,private, public or shared) that may be used to transport outdialcommunication services associated with subscribers, call tree subscribernumbers and/or call tree subscriber numbers assigned to the ODRG. Whenan outdial communication service is initiated, only those unifiedsub-group types available (i.e., assigned) to the ODRG may be consideredwhen routing and/or allocating resources for the outdial service. Ifmore than one unified sub-group type may be used to transport an outdialservice requested by a member of an ODRG, the ODRG may specify the orderin which the unified sub-group types should be tried. It will be readilyapparent to persons of ordinary skill in the art that other numbersand/or identifiers could be used to determine an ODRG.

In the illustrated example of FIG. 1, there is one ODRG for allmass-market subscribers (i.e., individual subscribers not subscribing inassociation with a private enterprise). In the example system of FIG. 1,the ODRG for mass-market subscribers has access to all public unifiedsub-groups even if the public unified sub-group type is not specified bytheir ODRG. There may be one or more ODRGs for any private enterprise(i.e., a company leasing and/or purchasing communication services from apublic service provider that are then used by the company to implement aprivate communications network). In the illustrated example, preferablyno ODRG spans two or more private enterprises. A more completedescription of an ODRG and utilization methods for ODRGs may be found inSection IV in connection with FIGS. 19-36.

Typically, real-time outdial communication services connect an indialservice to an outgoing destination (i.e., an endpoint). Under ordinarycircumstances, a pair of linked outdial and indial services each havinga circuit-based access network utilize two circuit-based connections toone or more gateways: one for the indial service and one for the outdialservice (i.e., a two-legged call). In the example of FIG. 1, theapplication server 132 may optionally bridge the packets between the twogateways using an Empty Capability Set (ECS) from the ITU H.323standard. If the outdial gateway of a two-legged call is different thanthe indial gateway, this bridge will result in gateway-to-gatewayrouting of the packets.

For certain outdial features, for example, a live reply, the subscriberis returned to the application server 132 when the outdial service iscompleted and, thus, is bridged at the gateway level. However, for otheroutdial services (for example, a call transfer) a person and/orsubscriber is not returned to the application server. In such cases, apreferred solution is to release the shared communication resource(e.g., a portion of unified sub-group and/or unified super-group)connecting the access network with the gateway for the indial andoutdial calls and the platform VoIP communication path associated withthe indial gateway (i.e., between the gateway and the application server132) such that gateway and/or application server 132 resources are alsono longer utilized. In the illustrated example of FIG. 1, thiscapability is referred to as “Link Release” and is accomplished via aTBCT. In the illustrated example of FIG. 1, TBCT may only be utilized ifboth the indial and the outdial communication service pass through thesame PSTN switch and the same gateway.

It will be readily apparent to persons of ordinary skill in the art thata similar functionality could be implemented for an endpoint with apacket-based access network using any of a variety of techniques. Forexample, one or more session border controllers could form a bridgebetween the packet-based endpoints, the two endpoints could be providedwith the IP address of each other thereby allowing the endpoints tocommunicate directly without requiring platform resources orinvolvement, etc.

In the example system of FIG. 1, TBCT capable unified super-groups andunified sub-groups support TBCT. However, since in the illustratedexample TBCT is a property of individual circuit groups and theirconstituent PRIs, e.g., for a unified super-group and/or unifiedsub-group to support TBCT, the circuit groups and PRIs logicallycomprising the unified super-group and/or unified sub-group must alsosupport TBCT. When routing and allocating resources for an outdialcommunication service for which TCBT is applicable, the policy server150 preferably attempts to select an outdial unified sub-group that isTBCT capable and includes the same exact gateway(s) and PSTN switch (ifapplicable) as the indial communication service. In the example of FIG.1, the policy server 150 maintains a list of TBCT capable outdialunified sub-groups for each access number. Thus, based on the accessnumber used to initiate an indial service, the policy server 150 candetermine appropriate outdial unified sub-groups that enable TBCT for apair of indial and outdial services.

II. Policy Server

FIG. 4 is a schematic illustration of an example manner of implementingthe example policy server 150 of FIG. 1. To store, among other things,the information received from the operations database 160, the examplepolicy server of FIG. 4 includes a memory 1005. The memory 1005 of theillustrated example is implemented using a combination of volatilememory (e.g., random access memory (RAM)) and non-volatile memory (e.g.,read only memory (ROM), FLASH memory, etc.). Preferably, thenon-volatile memory is used to hold some or all the information from thedatabase 160. The volatile memory may be used to store informationrelating to currently authorized and allocated outdial services as wellas available shared outdial communication resources.

To control the example policy server 150 of FIG. 4 and to interact withmessage centers and/or application servers, the example policy server150 of FIG. 4 includes a processor 1010 and a messaging interface 1015.The processor 1010 can be any of a variety of general and/or customizedcomputing devices (e.g., the processor 8000 of FIG. 87). Using any of avariety of suitable techniques, the messaging interface 1015 transmitsmessages to and receives messages from message centers and/orapplication servers.

In a public telephone network, regulatory rules and/or laws are used todetermine whether a telephone call or communication service initiatedfrom a first location to a second location is allowed (i.e.,authorized). The regulatory rules and/or laws may be used, in additionto network infrastructure, to determine how to route the telephone callor communication service. For instance a communication service from afirst LATA to a second LATA may require a long distance connection and,therefore, may require that a calling card and/or long distance accessnumber (e.g., 1-800-CALL-ATT) be utilized. The term calling card and/orlong distance access number should not be confused with an access numberthat is used, as described above, to route an indial communicationservice. Further, even if regulatory rules and/or laws allow thecommunication service to be authorized, business operating parametersand/or communication/transport network configuration(s) may prohibit thecall and/or service from being completed. For instance, there may not bean appropriate and/or available outdial circuit group that connects anygateway with any PSTN switch that can, in turn, connect to the desiredendpoint.

It will be readily apparent to persons of ordinary skill in the art thata change in the configuration of the example system of FIG. 1 may meanthat different regulatory rules and/or laws apply. For instance, if agateway is added, a subscriber or endpoint may no longer be a remoteaccess subscriber or endpoint. In the example system of FIG. 1, thebusiness/configuration portions of outdial communication serviceauthorization and routing rules form additional restrictions on orelaborations of regulatory rules and/or laws. Recognizing thatregulatory and/or business/configuration restrictions may change overtime, outdial authorization and routing rules are represented in anauthorization and routing rules table. The authorization and routingrules table also includes entries that specify one or more routing rules(e.g., a sequence of LATAs). In the example system of FIG. 1 the routingrules can indicate that any LATA may be used to route the outdialcommunication service (e.g., by using a routing rule of ANY). Asdiscussed below, based upon the routing rules, an appropriate LATA,unified sub-group type, unified sub-group, unified super-group and/orgateway are selected. As described below in Section V, the use of anauthorization and routing rules table allows existing authorizationrules and/or results, and/or routing rules to be easily changed bymodifying table entries and/or adding or removing rows and/or columns ofthe table.

To authorize outdial communication services initiated by an applicationserver 132 and to determine routing rules for an authorized outdialservice, the example policy server of FIG. 4 includes an outdialauthorizer 1020. The outdial authorizer 1020 accesses the authorizationand routing rules table that may, for example, be stored in the memory1005 to determine when a requested outdial communication service ispermissible. The outdial authorizer 1020 may also access theauthorization and routing rules table to determine one or morepermissible routing rules (e.g., a sequence of one or more LATAs thatmay be used to complete the requested outdial service). A more completedescription of an example outdial authorizer 1020 and an exampleauthorization rules table may be found below in Section V in connectionwith FIGS. 37-43.

In the example system of FIG. 1, the policy server 150 selects a unifiedsub-group having the same unified sub-group type used to authorize theoutdial service and located within the LATA currently being considered.Since there may be more than one unified sub-group within a particularLATA having the same unified sub-group type, the policy server 150selects a particular unified sub-group based upon a pre-determined setof priorities and/or preferences. For example, for an outdial servicethat can use TBCT, the policy server 150 preferably selects a unifiedsub-group that supports TBCT. If the outdial service would be inter-LATArelative to an outdial gateway and the endpoint of the outdial service,the policy server 150 preferably selects a long-distance unifiedsub-group. If the outdial service would be intra-LATA relative to anoutdial gateway and the endpoint of the outdial service, the policyserver 150 preferably selects a local unified sub-group. Additionally,one-way unified sub-groups are preferred over non-TBCT unifiedsub-groups. The example system of FIG. 1 uses the LERG to determine theLATA associated with a destination number (i.e., destination LATA) and,thus, whether an outdial communication service is intra-LATA orinter-LATA based upon the destination LATA and the current LATA beingconsidered to route the outdial call (i.e., the outdial gateway LATA).

It will be readily apparent to persons of ordinary skill in the art thatother priorities and/or preferences for selecting a unified sub-groupcould be used and the policy server 150 may select a unified sub-groupusing any of a variety of techniques. For example, the policy server 150may create sets of unified sub-groups located within the current LATAbased upon unified sub-groups meeting an overlapping set of prioritiesand/or preferences and having at least some available capacity. Forinstance, for a non-TBCT long distance outdial service request, a firstset may contain a list of long-distance one-way unified sub-groups, thenext set may contain a list of long-distance unified sub-groups, etc.Preferably, a unified sub-group only appears in one of the sets. Thepolicy server 150 then, for example, attempts to select a unifiedsub-group from the first set (i.e., the set meeting the most importantand/or the largest number of priorities and/or preferences) beforeproceeding to the second set. If a unified sub-group from the first setcan not be allocated, the policy server 150 then attempts to select aunified sub-group from the second set before proceeding to the thirdset, etc.

In the example system of FIG. 1, the policy server 150, from a set ofunified sub-groups, selects first the unified sub-group having thelowest current utilization. If that unified sub-group can not beallocated, then the policy server 150 selects the unified sub-grouphaving the second lowest utilization. The process continues until aunified sub-group can be allocated, or all unified sub-groups in the sethave been tried. In the example system of FIG. 1, the loading of aunified sub-group is a sum of all current allocations for all featuresexcluding dedicated indial on two-way unified sub-groups, and theutilization depends upon the type of unified sub-group. For example, fora private, public or one-way shared unified sub-group the utilization isthe ratio of the load to the sum of available dedicated resources. For atwo-way unified sub-group, the utilization is the ratio of the load tothe sum of available shared resources.

The policy server 150 may also utilize in the unified sub-groupselection process the success of previous outdial call routing by, forinstance, utilizing the call result information provided to the policyserver 150 by an application server 132 in, for example, aRelease_Request message (e.g., the message 1218 of FIG. 6). As discussedbelow, the call result may indicate SUCCESS, RESOURCE or FAILURE in therouting of the outdial communication service. For example, a call resultof RESOURCE indicates that the gatekeeper successfully located theunified super-group selected and allocated by the policy server 150, butthat there were no circuits were available on the unified super-groupfor the outdial service. In the example system of FIG. 1, a unifiedsuper-group is not considered for selection by the policy server 150 fora first pre-determined time period following the receipt of N RESOURCEcall results within a second pre-determined time period (i.e., multipleRESOURCE result in a time period) and/or a third pre-determined timeperiod following a FAILURE call result. If a pre-determined time periodis set to zero, then the unified super-group is not removed fromconsideration in response to the corresponding call result.

It will be readily apparent to persons of ordinary skill in the art thatthe policy server 150 could select unified sub-groups using any of avariety of other selection techniques and/or methods. For example, thepolicy server 150 could first determine a sub-set of all the unifiedsub-groups having the correct unified sub-group type in the current LATAbeing processed and that have resources that can be allocated to therequested outdial service type (i.e., feature) by, for example, usingthe methods described in Section VI and in connection with FIGS. 44-48.This sub-set of unified sub-groups could then be sorted into sets asdescribed below. Since only unified sub-groups that can have resourcesallocated to the feature will be included in a set, a unified sub-groupfrom the non-empty set meeting the most important and/or the largestnumber of priorities and/or preferences may be selected. In particular,the policy server 150 will select the unified sub-group from the mostpreferred non-empty set having, as discussed, above the lowestutilization.

To allocate a portion (i.e., one or more resources) of a shared outdialcommunication facility along the route selected for an authorizedoutdial communication service, the example policy server 150 of FIG. 4includes a resource allocator 1025. It will be readily apparent topersons of ordinary skill in the art that resources of a sharedcommunication facility are not guaranteed to be available and that someoutdial communication services (e.g., a live reply outdial communicationservice) may have higher priority or importance than other outdialcommunication services (e.g., a pager notification outdial communicationservice).

To increase the likelihood that a shared outdial communication facilityresource is available for a higher priority outdial service, the exampleresource allocator 1025 implements feature based (i.e., outdialcommunication service type) unified sub-group resource control thatincludes dedicating a portion of a shared outdial facility to eachfeature. It will be readily apparent to persons of ordinary skill in theart that the total of all dedicated portions of a shared outdialfacility should exceed one hundred percent of the shared outdialfacility. If the entire portion of a shared outdial facility dedicatedto a feature is currently in use, the resource allocator 1025 mayallocate resources to a new initiation for the feature from anon-dedicated portion of the shared outdial facility. The extent ofnon-dedicated portions utilized by the feature may also be limited. Forexample, each of three features may be dedicated twenty-five percent ofa shared outdial facility; with each feature restricted to a maximum offorty percent of the entire shared outdial facility.

It will be readily apparent to persons of ordinary skill in the art thatby adjusting the relative portions of dedicated and shared resourceallowed to be used by any given feature, the resource allocator 1025 mayimplement a desired balancing of priority and availability of outdialcommunication services. A more complete description of an exampleresource allocator 1025 may be found below in Section VI in connectionwith FIGS. 44-48. Having selected and allocated resources of a unifiedsub-group, the policy server returns to the application server 132 anidentifier for the unified super-group that underlies the selected andallocated unified sub-group.

By using unified super-groups which are logical mappings to packet-basedcommunication resources and/or circuit groups and unified sub-groupswhich are logical mappings to a portion of an outdial unifiedsuper-group, the example policy server 150 and/or the example resourceallocator 1025 of FIGS. 1 and 4 may be implemented without havingexplicit and/or specific implementation details of gateways, underlyingtransport technologies (e.g., circuit-based, packet-based, etc.),communication facilities, and/or communication protocols (e.g., H.323,SIP, etc.) (i.e., resource and transport agnostic). For instance, theresource allocator 1025 of the illustrated example has access to thenumber of resources associated with an outdial unified super-groupand/or unified sub-group, but does not need to know the makeup of theoutdial unified super-group (i.e., number of associated PRIs, circuitgroups, etc.). Further, by abstracting the capacity of a sharedpacket-based shared facility (e.g., the facility 147) into an outdialunified super-group having a specified number of resources (e.g., anumber of supportable VoIP connections), the resource allocator 1025 canallocate outdial communication services to the packet-based sharedfacility in the same way it does so for a circuit-based shared facility.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example message exchange in which an outdialcommunication service is initiated, authorized, routed, allocated andended in response to an indial communication service, which may beexecuted by the example system of FIG. 1. For brevity and ease ofunderstanding, not every message is illustrated in FIG. 5. The messageexchanges illustrated are those representing key elements of an outdialcommunication service initiated, authorized, routed, allocated and endedin response to an indial communication service. The messages exchangesnot shown will be readily apparent to persons of ordinary skill in theart. The example exchange of FIG. 5 begins with a subscriber 105Ainitiating an indial communication service by placing a telephone call1110 to a message center (e.g., to access a voicemail account). When thePSTN switch 115A receives the telephone call 1110, it sends a setupmessage 1112 to the gateway 120A. The gateway 120A contacts thegatekeeper 135 to obtain routing information to an appropriateapplication server by sending an admission request (ARQ) 1114 to thegatekeeper 135. The gateway 120A receives a response 1115 from thegatekeeper 135 that contains the IP address of the application server132. Using the IP address of the application server 132 obtained fromthe gatekeeper 135, the gateway 120A sends a VoIP setup message 1116 tothe application server 132 and receives a response 1117 back from theapplication server 132 confirming the establishment of a platform VoIPsession and/or connection. Having successfully completed the messageexchanges described above, a communication path between the subscriber105A and the application server 132 is established. The establishedcommunications path includes a PSTN indial leg 1118 between thesubscriber 105A and the gateway 120A and a platform VoIP indial leg 1120between the gateway 120A and the application server 132.

Using the established communication path, the subscriber 105A caninteract with the application server 132 to, for example, reviewmessages in a voicemail account. During the example interactionsillustrated in FIG. 5, the subscriber 105A causes a real-time live replyoutdial communication service to be initiated by the application server132. To initiate the outdial communication service, the applicationserver 132 sends a combined authorization and routing request 1122 tothe policy server 150. In the illustrated example, the policy server 150responds 1123 with authorization approval and routing and resourceallocation information (e.g., a selected unified super-group). Theapplication server 132 then sends an ARQ message 1148 to the gatekeeper135 and receives an ACF response message 1150 containing the IP addressof a gateway connected to the unified super-group (e.g., the gateway120A). The application server 132 then initiates a VoIP setup via amessage 1124 that includes the selected unified super-group to thegateway 120A (using the IP address provided by the gatekeeper 135) whichin turn initiates a setup via a message 1126 to the PSTN switch 115A. Inresponse to the setup message 1126, the PSTN switch 115A establishes aconnection to the endpoint 105C via the PSTN switch 115C. The PSTNswitch 115C causes a telephone at endpoint 105C to ring 1128.

If, as in the illustrated example, a person at endpoint 105C answers theringing telephone 1130, the PSTN switches 115A and 115C send a connectmessage 1132 to the gateway 120A indicating that a communications pathhas been established. The gateway 120A then completes the establishmentof the platform VoIP session between the application server 132 and thegateway 120A for the outdial communication path via a connect message1134. Having successfully completed the message exchanges describedabove, a communication path for the outdial communication servicebetween the application server 132 and the endpoint 105C is established.The communications path of the illustrated example includes a PSTNoutdial leg 1136 between the endpoint 105C and the gateway 120A and aplatform VoIP outdial leg 1138 between the gateway 120A and theapplication server 132.

Using the communication paths between the subscriber 105A and theapplication server 132 and between the endpoint 105C and the applicationserver 132, the subscriber 105A is able to communicate with the endpoint105C. When, for example, the answering party at the endpoint 105C hangsup the telephone 1140, the PSTN switch 115C sends a disconnect message1142 via the PSTN switch 115A to the gateway 120A to terminate theoutdial communication service. Upon receiving the disconnect message1142, the gateway 120A sends a VoIP disconnect message 1144 to theapplication server 132 who notifies the policy server 150 via a message1146 that the outdial communication service has ended and that theallocated resource has been released.

From the foregoing, it will be readily apparent to persons of ordinaryskill in the art that the example message exchange of FIG. 5 could haveproceeded differently from that illustrated. For instance, thesubscriber 105A may hang up and, thus, cause the outdial and indialcommunication services to be terminated. Alternatively or additionally,the policy server 150 may not authorize and/or successful allocateresources to the outdial communication service, in which case theapplication server 132 would notify the subscriber 105A of therejection. Alternatively or additionally, the outdial communicationservice could have been initiated to an endpoint via a differentgateway. Other examples abound.

Outdial communication request messages received by the example policyserver 150 of FIG. 1 contain, among other things, one or more of thefollowing parameters: destination number, access number, ODRG of asubscriber, call tree subscriber number and/or a CTAN, and feature(e.g., outdial communication service type). In response, the policyserver 150, among other things, determines and provides via a responsemessage one or more of an authorization approval (e.g., response of YES)or disapproval (e.g., a response of NO), a request for a calling cardand/or long distance access number (e.g., a response of CC), routinginformation, resource allocation information (e.g., a selected unifiedsuper-group), etc.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example message exchange, that initiates,authorizes, routes, allocates and ends an outdial communication servicethat may be performed in response to and/or independent of an indialcommunication service, which may be executed by the example system ofFIG. 1. To initiate the outdial communication service, the applicationserver 132 sends an authorization request message 1202 to the policyserver 150. The authorization message 1202 contains: (a) a REQ_ID (i.e.,request ID) that allows requests sent to the policy server 150 andresponses received from the policy server 150 to be correlated; (b) aREF_ID (i.e., reference ID) that allows routing requests and subsequentrelease requests to be correlated; (c) a subscriber identification; (d)a destination number (DEST_NUM) (i.e., called number); (e) an accessnumber (AN) (e.g., a number used by the indial call to reach theapplication server 132); (f) an ODRG identifier; and (g) a feature(i.e., outdial communication service type) identifier. In response tothe authorization request message 1202, the policy server 150 sends anauthorization response message 1204 to the application server 132 thatcontains: (a) the REQ_ID from the request message 1202; (b) an AUTHvalue indicating whether the outdial service is authorization; and (c)an ERRORINFO flag that provides any appropriate status or errorinformation.

For purposes of discussion, it is assumed that the policy server 150authorizes the requested outdial service. Having received authorizationfor the outdial service, the application server 132 sends a routingrequest message 1206 to the policy server 150. The routing requestmessage 1206 contains the same variables contained in the authorizationrequest message 1202. In response to the routing request message 1206,the policy server 150 sends to the application server 132 a routingresponse message 1208 that contains, among other things, the unifiedsuper-group allocated to the outdial service. It will be readilyapparent to persons of ordinary skill in the art that the authorizationand routing requests, and the authorization and routing responses may becombined into a single message exchange and/or split into additionalmessage exchanges. It will also be readily apparent to persons ofordinary skill in the art that if an authorization requires, forexample, a calling card and/or long distance access number, the policyserver 150 may indicate this requirement in the authorization responsemessage 1204 and may delay authorization approval until the applicationserver 132 provides to the policy server 150 the desired calling cardand/or long distance access number obtained from the subscriber. In theexample system of FIG. 1, the application server 132 normally sends acombined authorization and routing request, and an authorization requestis used, for example, to pre-authorize a CFN. It will be readilyapparent than an authorization request could also be used for otherpurposes, for example, to pre-authorize an outdial call to a specifictelephone number (i.e., endpoint) prior to configuring a call treeapplication server with the specific telephone number.

Following successful completion of authorization and routing, theapplication server 132 initiates, for example, an H.323 registrationadmittance status (RAS) session with the gatekeeper 135 to setup theplatform VoIP connection to a gateway. The RAS session may be initiatedby sending an ARQ message 1210 to the gatekeeper 135 that contains theDESTNUM and the unified super-group provided by the policy server 150.If the gatekeeper 135 admits the platform VoIP session requested by theapplication server 132, the gatekeeper 135 sends an admissionconfirmation (ACF) message 1212A that contains, among other things, theIP address of the gateway 120A (GW_IP_NUM). If the gatekeeper 135rejects the ARQ, the gatekeeper 135 instead sends an admission rejection(ARJ) message. It will be readily apparent to persons of ordinary skillin the art that any other protocol (e.g., the SIP protocol) mayalternatively be used between the application server 132 and thegatekeeper 135 and/or softswitch/proxy server.

Following a successful H.323 RAS session in which the platform VoIPsession is admitted, the application server 132 initiates establishmentof a platform VoIP session with the gateway 120A by, for example,initiating a setup message exchange based on the ITU Q.931 standard. Tothis end, the application server 132 of the illustrated example sends aQ.931 setup message 1214 to the IP address of the gateway 120(GW_IP_NUM). The setup message 1214 contains, among other things, theunified super-group allocated by the policy server 150. Establishment ofthe platform VoIP session continues in the fashion described in the ITUH.225 standard (which is part of H.323) which, in turn, bases the setupupon the ITU Q.931 standard (i.e., a setup based upon ITU Q.931 asreferenced herein). Having established the platform VoIP session, theapplication server 132 is able to communicate via the gateway 120A withthe endpoint as described above in connection with FIG. 5.

To end the outdial communication service and terminate the platform VoIPsession, either the gateway 120A or the application server 132 sends aQ.931 release message 1216. Having ended the platform VoIP session, theapplication server 132 sends to the protocol server 150 a releaserequest message 1218 that contains, among other things, the RESULT fielddiscussed in detail above. The policy server 150 acknowledges therelease request message 1218 with a release response message 1220. Thepolicy server 150 may log any outdial routing failures (e.g., callresults of RESOURCE or FAILURE) to track discrepancies between expectedand actual resource availability and/or may set alarms to reportfailures or other conditions that exceed a pre-determined threshold.

For outdial communication services for which a link release (i.e., TCBT)may be appropriate, the example message exchange of FIG. 6 may beappropriately modified as illustrated in the example message exchange ofFIG. 7. The illustrated message exchange of FIG. 7 proceeds similarly tothe example message exchange of FIG. 6 thru most of the authorizationphase. Thus, the description of the first portion of FIG. 7 will not berepeated here. Instead, the interested reader is referred back to thecorresponding description of FIG. 6. To facilitate this process, likeoperations have been numbered with like reference numerals in FIGS. 6and 7.

In the illustrated example of FIG. 7, if the routing request message1206 specifies an outdial service for which TCBT may be enabled, thepolicy server 150 selects, if available, a TCBT capable unified outdialsub-group or super-group connecting the same gateway(s) and the samePSTN switch (if applicable) as the indial service. If an appropriateTCBT capable outdial unified super-group or sub-group is available andallocated by the policy server 150, a routing response message 1208Bsent by the policy server 150 to the application server 132 contains anadditional parameter that indicates that a link release should beperformed.

When the application server 132 receives the routing response message1208B containing an indication that a link release should be performed,the application server 132 skips the H.323 RAS exchange with thegatekeeper 135 and instead initiates the outdial via the indial gateway120A using the Q.931 protocol with the setup message 1214 and a ITUH.450-2 call transfer with a setup message 1215. In response to theH.450-2 setup message 1215, the indial gateway 120A interacts with thePSTN switch to perform the TCBT and provides a response 1222 to theapplication server 132 indicating success or failure of the TCBT. Ifsuccessful, the application server 132 sends a release request message1224 to the policy server 150 and the policy server 150 acknowledges therelease request in a response message 1226.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example message exchange, that initiates,authorizes, routes, allocates and establishes an Internet facsimilestore-and-forward outdial communication service that may be performed inresponse to and/or independent of an indial communication service, whichmay be executed by the example system of FIG. 1. The illustrated messageexchange of FIG. 8 proceeds similarly to the example message exchange ofFIG. 6 thru the H.323 RAS phase. Thus, the description of the firstportion of FIG. 8 will not be repeated here. Instead, the interestedreader is referred back to the corresponding description of FIG. 6. Tofacilitate this process, like operations have been numbered with likereference numerals in FIGS. 6 and 8. However, in the example of FIG. 8,the application server 132A determines an estimate of the time durationfor the facsimile outdial service and includes the estimate in therouting request message 1206.

Having received authorization and routing information from the policyserver 150 and successfully completed an H.323 RAS exchange with thegatekeeper 135, the application server 132, using, for example, theprotocols defined in the ITU T.37 standard, initiates a simple messagetransfer protocol (SMTP) session with the gateway 120 via a messagetransfer agent (MTA). Using the SMTP session, the application server 132forwards a copy of the stored facsimile to the gateway 120A. Thedestination number provided by the application server 132 to the gateway120A via the T.37 session is prefixed with the allocated unifiedsuper-group identifier. In the illustrated example of FIG. 1, eachunified super-group supporting the facsimile outdial communicationservice has an associated dial peer to handle destination numbersprefixed by that unified super-group identifier.

In the example system of FIG. 1, the application server 132 determines atimer period duration based upon the estimated time to transmit thefacsimile to the endpoint, and the duration is included in theauthorization and/or routing request so that the policy server 150 canautomatically release the allocated resource after the determined timeperiod has elapsed. The application server 132 may, optionally, set theduration of the timer based upon a pre-determined time that is based on,for example, an average facsimile transmission time. If there is asubsequent error in attempting to transmit the facsimile, theapplication server 132 may send a release request message to the policyserver 150 with, for example, a call result of FAILURE or RESOURCE asappropriate.

The example policy server 150 of FIG. 1 and the example exchanges ofFIGS. 5-8 are implemented to be self-correcting, over time, withoutperiodic or aperiodic re-synchronization with the application servers132. In particular, each outdial feature type has a pre-determined timelimit after which the policy server 132 may assume an outdial servicehas ended even if a release request message has not be received from theapplication server 132. In the example system of FIG. 1, thepre-determined feature-based time limits are long enough such that it israrely expected that an outdial service of a particular type will exceedthe corresponding limit. If an application server 132 fails within thelongest of the pre-determined time limits, the policy server 150 will,over time, release each of the outdial resources associated with theapplication server 132. If the policy server 150 fails, then the examplesystem of FIG. 1 performs a failover to a backup policy server.Initially, the backup policy server may authorize outdial calls forwhich outdial resources do not exist because existing outdial calls arenot affected by the backup policy server. However, over time, all of thecalls that existed at the time of failure of the policy server 150 willcomplete and the backup policy server will, over time, becomesynchronized with the application servers 132.

Alternatively, each application server 132 could send a periodic refreshmessage for each outdial call to the policy server 150. If the policyserver 150 does not receive the periodic refresh message within apre-determined time period (i.e., the application server has failed and,thus, the call is by definition released), the policy server 150 couldtake correction action, for example, release the resource allocationassociated with the call. Other techniques for recovering andre-synchronizing after device, communication path and/or protocolexchange failures abound.

FIGS. 9A, 9B, 9C and 9D are flowcharts representative of example machinereadable instructions that may be executed by a processor (e.g., theprocessor 8010 of FIG. 87) to implement the example policy server 150.The machine readable instructions of FIGS. 9A-D may be executed by aprocessor, a controller and/or any other suitable processing device. Forexample, the machine readable instructions of FIGS. 9A-D may be embodiedin coded instructions stored on a tangible medium such as a flashmemory, or RAM associated with the processor 8010 shown in the exampleprocessor platform 8000 and discussed below in conjunction with FIG. 87.Alternatively, some or all of the example machine readable instructionsof FIGS. 9A-D and/or the policy server 150 may be implemented using anapplication specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable logicdevice (PLD), a field programmable logic device (FPLD), discrete logic,hardware, etc. Additionally, some or all of the example machine readableinstructions of FIGS. 9A-D and/or the policy server 150 may beimplemented using software, firmware, hardware, and/or a combination ofhardware and software and/or firmware. Also, some or all of the machinereadable instructions of FIGS. 9A-D and/or the policy server 150 may beimplemented manually or as combinations of any of the foregoingtechniques. Further, although the example machine readable instructionsof FIGS. 9A-D are described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS.9A-D, persons of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate thatmany other methods of implementing the policy server 150 may beemployed. For example, the order of execution of the blocks may bechanged, and/or some of the blocks described may be changed, eliminated,sub-divided, or combined.

The example machine readable instructions of FIG. 9A begin with thepolicy server 150 waiting to receive an authorization or routing request(block 1302). If a request is not received (block 1302), the policyserver 150 continues waiting. If a request is received (block 1302), thepolicy server 150 determines if the request is an authorization request(block 1304). Persons of ordinary skill in the art will appreciated thatrequests may be queued and processed sequentially and/or processed inparallel by, for example, separate processing threads.

If an authorization request is received (block 1304), the policy server150 determines an authorization for the requested outdial communicationservice using, for example, the example machine readable instructions ofFIG. 9B and/or the methods described in Section V in connection withFIGS. 37-43 (block 1306). The policy server 150 then, as discussedabove, sends a response message to, for example, the application server132 (block 1308) and control then returns to block 1302 to wait foranother request. Alternatively, before returning to block 1302 to waitfor another request, the policy server 150 may, if the outdial servicewas authorized (e.g., a response of YES from the example machinereadable instructions of FIG. 9B), save the unified sub-group typeand/or the routing rules returned by, for example, the example machinereadable instructions of FIG. 9B. In the example system of FIG. 1, theresponse message will indicate, among other things, YES the outdialservice is authorized, NO the outdial service is not authorized, CC theoutdial service may be authorized if a calling card and/or long distanceaccess number is utilized, or ERROR is the authorization request couldnot be processed. A response of NO or ERROR may also include additionalerror information in the form of a human readable string indicating acause of the authorization failure and/or reason the request could notbe processed.

Returning to block 1304, if an authorization request is not received,the policy server 150 determines if a routing request was received(block 1312). If neither a routing request nor an authorization requestwas not received (block 1312), the policy server 150 performs suitableerror processing (block 1318), for example, logging an un-supportedrequest type, and control returns to block 1302 to wait for anotherrequest.

If a routing request was received (block 1312), the policy server 150selects and allocates a route for the outdial service (i.e., a unifiedsub-group) using, for example, the example machine readable instructionsof FIG. 9C and/or the methods described in Section VI in connection withFIGS. 44-48 (block 1314). The policy server 150 then, as discussedabove, sends a response message to the application server 132 (block1316) and control returns to block 1302 to wait for another request. Inthe example system of FIG. 1, the response message will indicate, amongother things, YES the outdial service is authorized and identify aunified super-group over which to route the requested outdialcommunication service, YES the outdial service is authorized but nounified super-group could be selected and/or allocated, NO the outdialservice is not authorized, CC the outdial service may be authorized if acalling card and/or long distance access number is utilized, or ERROR isthe authorization request could not be processed. A response of NO orERROR may also include additional error information in the form of ahuman readable string indicating a cause of the authorization failureand/or reason the request could not be processed.

The example machine readable instructions of FIG. 9B begin with thepolicy server 150 determining the types of unified sub-groups (e.g.,public, private, shared) that may be used to route the call based on theoutdial communication service type (i.e., feature) and the ODRG of theassociated subscriber (block 1402). For each of the types of unifiedsub-groups that may be used to route the outdial service (block 1404),the outdial authorizer 1020 determines an authorization for therequested outdial service by, for example, implementing the methodsdescribed in Section V in connection with FIGS. 37-43 (block 1406). Ifthe outdial authorizer 1020 returns a response of YES (block 1408),control returns from the example machine executable instructions of FIG.9B to the example machine executable instructions of FIG. 9A with one ormore return values indicating that the outdial service was authorized(e.g., a return value of YES) and specifying the routing rules (i.e., asequence of LATAs and a unified sub-group type) (block 1409)

Returning to block 1408, if the response is not YES, the policy server150 determines if the response is CC and if the CC_FLAG is not set(block 1410). If the response is CC and the CC_FLAG is not set (block1410), the policy server 150 sets the CC_FLAG indicating thatauthorization may be possible with a calling card and/or long distanceaccess number (block 1412). If not all of the types of unifiedsub-groups that may be used to route the outdial service have beenprocessed (block 1416), control returns to block 1404 to process thenext type of unified sub-group.

If all the types of unified sub-groups that may be used to route theoutdial service have been processed (block 1416), the policy server 150determines if the CC_FLAG is set (block 1418). If the CC_FLAG is set(block 1418), the policy server 150 sets the response value returned bythe example machine readable instructions of FIG. 9B to CC (block 1420)and control returns from the example machine readable instructions ofFIG. 9B to the example machine readable instructions of FIG. 9A with oneor more return values indicating that the outdial service requires acalling card and/or long distance access number to be authorized (block1409). If the CC_FLAG is not set (block 1418), the policy server 150sets the response value returned by the example machine readableinstructions of FIG. 9B to NO (block 1422) and control returns from theexample machine readable instructions of FIG. 9B to the example machinereadable instructions of FIG. 9A with one or more return valuesindicating that the outdial service is not authorized (block 1409).

The example machine readable instructions of FIG. 9C begin with thepolicy server 150 determining the unified sub-group types (e.g., public,private, shared) that may be used to route the call based on the outdialcommunication service type (i.e., feature) and the ODRG of theassociated subscriber, CTAN and/or call tree subscriber number (block1508). Then for each of the unified sub-group types that may be used toroute the outdial service (block 1510), the outdial authorizer 1020determines an authorization (e.g., YES, NO or CC) for the requestedoutdial service by, for example, implementing the methods described inSection V in connection with FIGS. 37-43 (block 1512). If the outdialauthorizer 1020 returns a response of YES (block 1514), the policyserver 150 sets the AUTH_FLAG (block 1516) and attempts to select andallocate a shared communication resource (i.e., a unified sub-group)using, for example, the example machine readable instructions of FIG. 9D(block 1518). If the selection and allocation was successful (block1520), control returns from the example machine readable instructions ofFIG. 9C to the example machine readable instructions of FIG. 9A with oneor more return values indicating that allocation was successful (e.g.,an authorization response of YES) and specifying the unified super-groupto which the unified sub-group maps (e.g., a unified super-groupidentifier SG_ID) (block 1522). If the selection and allocation was notsuccessful (block 1520), control proceeds to block 1528 to determine ifall unified sub-group types have been processed.

Returning to block 1514, if the response from the outdial authorizer1020 is not YES, the policy server 150 determines if the response is CC(block 1524). If the response is CC, the policy server 150 sets theCC_FLAG (block 1526). Control then proceeds to block 1528 to determineif all unified sub-group types have been processed.

If not all unified sub-group types have been processed (block 1528),control returns to block 1510 to process the next unified sub-grouptype. If all unified sub-group types have been processed (block 1528),the policy server 150 determines if the AUTH_FLAG was set (block 1530).If the AUTH_FLAG was set (block 1530), control returns from the examplemachine readable instructions of FIG. 9C to the example machine readableinstructions of FIG. 9A with one or more return values indicating theoutdial service was authorized (e.g., response of YES) but that aunified sub-group could not be selected and/or allocated (e.g., a NULLor missing SG_ID) (block 1532).

If the CC_FLAG is set (block 1534), control returns from the examplemachine readable instructions of FIG. 9C to the example machine readableinstructions of FIG. 9A with one or more return values indicating thatauthorization requires a calling card and/or long distance access number(e.g., a value of CC) (block 1536). If the CC_FLAG is not set (block1534), control returns from the example machine readable instructions ofFIG. 9C to the example machine readable instructions of FIG. 9A with oneor more return values indicating that authorization and allocationfailed (e.g., a value of NO) (block 1538).

It will be readily apparent to persons of ordinary skill in the art thatthe example machine readable instructions of FIGS. 9A-C may optionallyinclude an additional return condition that returns a response of ERROR.For example, the policy server 150 using any of a variety of techniquescould verify the validity of one or more of an access number, asubscriber number, an ODRG, etc. to determine if the authorization orcombined authorization and routing request can be processed and/or isvalid. If, for example, one or more parameters are invalid, the policyserver 150 could, for instance, return a response of ERROR together witha reason for the failure (e.g., invalid access number) to theapplication server 132A.

As illustrated in the example machine readable instructions of FIGS.9A-C, the policy server 150 of the example system of FIG. 1 determinesthe most lenient authorization response and/or routing rules across allof the unified sub-group types. In other words, if any unified sub-grouptype result in an authorization result of YES, then the authorizationresponse is YES. If no unified sub-group type results in anauthorization result of YES, and if any unified sub-group type has anauthorization result of CC, then the authorization response is CC.Otherwise, the authorization response is NO.

The example machine readable instructions of FIG. 9D begin with thepolicy server 150 processing each of the LATAs listed in the routingrules (block 1602). As discussed above, the policy server 150 selectsand/or identifies a unified sub-group located within the current LATA towhich an attempt to allocate a resource will be made (block 1604).Having selected a particular unified sub-group (block 1604), the policyserver 150 attempts to allocate resources of the selected unifiedsub-group to the requested outdial feature using, for example, themethods described in Section VI in connection with FIGS. 44-48 (block1606). If resources are successfully allocated (block 1608), controlreturns from the example machine readable instructions of FIG. 9D to theexample machine readable instructions of FIG. 9C with one or more returnvalues indicating that allocation was successful and specifying theunified super-group to which the unified sub-group belongs (e.g., aunified super-group identifier SG_ID) (block 1610).

If a resource was not successfully allocated (block 1608), the policyserver 150 determines if an additional unified sub-groups may beavailable in the current LATA (block 1612). If additional unifiedsub-groups may be available (block 1612), control returns to block 1604to select another unified sub-group. If no additional unified sub-groupsare available in the current LATA (block 1612), and not all LATAsspecified in the routing rules have been processed (block 1614), controlreturns to block 1602 to process the next LATA. If all LATAs have beenprocessed (block 1614) without successfully allocated a sharedcommunication resource, control returns from the example machinereadable instructions of FIG. 9D to the example machine readableinstructions of FIG. 9C with one or more return values indicating thatallocation failed (block 1616).

III. Gateway Provisioning

As discussed above, the example system of FIG. 1 may span multipleLATAs, include multiple message centers and application servers, andcontain hundreds of gateways and tens of thousands of PRIs.Additionally, as more persons subscribe to the communication servicesprovided by the illustrated example system of FIG. 1, new accessnumbers, PRIs, circuit groups, unified super-groups, unified sub-groups,proxy servers, session border controllers, VoIP softswitches (i.e.,softswitches), softswitches, softswitch/proxy servers, and gateways arecontinually added. Further, the example system supports the routing ofcommunication services from a first network (e.g., a PSTN network) intoa VoIP network (e.g., a network created by the gateway 120A, thegatekeeper 135, the message center 130, and the policy server 150), andfrom the VoIP network into a second network. As such, the VoIP networkcontains multiple entry and exit communication paths. In comparison,traditional voicemail systems are built using numerous highlycentralized all-in-one single vendor platforms, each one serving apredetermined set of customers in a specific geographic location. Insuch platforms, calls often enter and exit via a single gateway at asingle location.

To perform automated provisioning of gateways (e.g., the gateways 120Aand 120B), session border controllers and/or proxy server/softwitches,the example system of FIG. 1 includes a provisioner 162. The provisioner162 extracts data representing the configuration of the example systemof FIG. 1 from the operations database 160 to form a configurationrecord for a gateway, a session border controller, a proxy server, asoftswitch and/or a softswitch/proxy server.

In the illustrated example of FIG. 1, the provisioner 162 receives arequest to configure a gateway, a session border controller, a proxyserver, a softswitch and/or a softswitch/proxy server from anadministrator and/or a service provider associated with the illustratedsystem. In response to the configuration request, the provisioner 162extracts appropriate configuration parameters from the operationsdatabase 160 using database queries, combines the configurationparameters with standard configuration data to form a configurationrecord, and configures the gateway, session border control, the proxyserver, the softswitch and/or the softswitch/proxy server with the datain the configuration record. The provisioner 162 may also receive andaccommodate a request to configure multiple gateways, session bordercontrols, proxy servers, softswitches and/or softswitch/proxy servers.

In the interest of brevity and ease of discussion, throughout theremainder of this disclosure references will be made to configuringgateways. However, persons of ordinary skill in the art will readilyappreciate that the methods and systems described herein are equallyapplicable to configuring proxy servers, session border controllers,proxy servers, softswitches and/or softswitch/proxy servers.

FIG. 10 is a schematic illustration of an example manner of implementingthe provisioner 162 of FIG. 1. To perform queries of the operationsdatabase 160, the provisioner 162 of FIG. 10 includes a querier 2005. Inthe illustrated example, the querier 2005, using any of a variety ofdatabase query techniques, performs one or more database queries basedon one or more criteria to determine one or more results 2010representative of one or more configuration parameters (e.g.,parameters, data, and/or variables) of the example system of FIG. 1. Forexample, using a structure query language (SQL) based script or tool thequerier 2005 determines a mapping between a PRI and an interface of aparticular gateway (e.g., the gateway 120A). In the example of FIG. 10,the results 2010 may be stored in either a volatile memory device or innon-volatile memory (e.g., a file on a hard disk drive). In the examplesystem of FIG. 1, the results of each database query are, without lossof generality, concatenated to the end of a text-based file that isfirst emptied when a configuration request is received.

In the example of FIG. 1, gateways are configured using a text-basedconfiguration record that contains one or more configuration recordsections each containing one or more configuration parameters. Totranslate the query results 2010 into a configuration record appropriatefor configuring a gateway, the example provisioner 162 includes atranslator 2015. The translator 2015 using, for example, a practicalextraction and reporting language (PERL) script, creates anappropriately formatted and structured configuration record sectionand/or configuration record that combines dynamic configurationparameters taken or derived from the results 2010 with standardconfiguration data and/or parameters 2012. For instance, in the examplesystem of FIG. 1, gateways may be provisioned similarly (e.g., anidentical number and type of PRIs) and, thus, a portion of theconfiguration record does not need to change from one gateway to thenext and may be standardized across some or all of the example system ofFIG. 1. The remaining configuration parameters of the configurationrecord (e.g., mapping of PRIs to gateways and/or gateway interfaces) aredynamic and/or semi-static and, thus, are determined from data stored inthe operations database 160 (i.e., the results 2010). In the example ofFIG. 10, the translator 2015 may require results from multiple databasequeries (completed by the querier 2005) to form a complete configurationrecord section and/or configuration record.

To configure a gateway, the example provisioner 162 of FIG. 10 includesa configurer 2015. Using any of a variety of techniques, the configurer2015 configures the gateway using the configuration record. For example,the configurer 2015 may transfer (e.g., using file transfer protocol(FTP)) the configuration record to a gateway and then instruct thegateway to load the configuration record. Alternatively, the configurer2015 may directly load the configuration record into the gateway.

Although not exhaustive, FIGS. 11A-E illustrate example configurationrecord sections suitable for use with a gateway manufactured by CiscoSystems, Inc. A configuration record and/or configuration record sectionfor a gateway from a different manufacturer may differ in both formatand/or content from the examples illustrated in FIGS. 11A-E. The exampleconfiguration record sections illustrated in FIGS. 11A-E include one ormore lines of comments, text, parameters, values, symbols and/or data.For instance, lines of the examples of FIGS. 11A-E may specify aconfiguration parameter and, thus, may include, among other things, aparameter identifier (e.g., identifiers 2050A and 2050B), a parametervalue, data, flag, etc. (e.g., values 2055A and 2055B), and, optionally,one or more additional configuration parameter values (e.g., values 2060and 2065).

In the example system of FIG. 1, the gateways use patterns to identify amatching telephone number and, thus the examples of FIGS. 11A-E specifya telephone number or a range of telephone number via a pattern. Forexample, a pattern of 10 dots (i.e., . . . ) matches any telephonenumber. As discussed above, a gateway may include dial peers forhandling indial communication services, outdial communication services,and/or facsimile print indial and/or outdial communication services.

In the example system of FIG. 1, each access number is associated with aunique combination of application server type and message center, andeach technology prefix is also associated with a unique combination ofapplication server type and message center. Thus, by transitivity, everyaccess number is associated with a unique technology prefix. The exampleof FIG. 11A illustrates a configuration record section that associatesan access number configuration parameter (i.e., a destination-patternparameter identifier with a parameter value of 3143614612) with atechnology prefix configuration parameter (i.e., the tech-prefixparameter identifier 2050B with the parameter value 2055B of 5#) and anapplication (i.e., indial) dial peer parameter (i.e., the dial-peerparameter identifier 2050A with a parameter value 2055A of 100 andadditional parameter values 2060 and 2065).

The example of FIG. 11B illustrates a configuration record section thatincludes a unified super-group parameter (i.e., a super-group of 200)that is to be associated with the gateway. Similarly, the example ofFIG. 11C is a configuration record section that associates a unifiedsuper-group (i.e., a super-group parameter of 200) with an interface ora portion of an interface of the gateway (i.e., an interface parameterof 7/0:23).

The example of FIG. 11D is a configuration record section thatassociates an outdial dial peer (i.e., a dial-peer voice identificationparameter of 199 POTS) with a unified super-group (i.e., a super-groupparameter of 200). Likewise, the example of FIG. 11E illustrates aconfiguration record section associating a facsimile print dial peer(i.e., a dial-peer voice identification parameter of 198 POTS) with aunified super-group (i.e., a super-group parameter of 200).

FIG. 12 is an entity relationship diagram illustrating a portion of theoperations database 160 that relates to the configuration of a gatewaywithin the example system of FIG. 1. As illustrated, an access numberentity 2105 contains, among other things, an assigned access number, andis associated to a message center entity 2110 (i.e., via the foreign keyK_MC), an application entity 2115, and a circuit group entity 2120.Associated to the circuit group 2120 is at least one PRI entity 2125,where the PRI entity 2125 includes an identifier (ID), a directionindication (e.g., indial, outdial, etc.) and a flag indicating if thePRI entity 2125 supports TBCT. The PRI entity 2125 is also associated toa gateway entity 2130 that includes at least one interface entity 2140.The circuit group entity 2120 is also associated to a unifiedsuper-group entity 2145 and a PSTN switch entity 2150. A technologyprefix entity 2155 is associated to the message center entity 2110 andthe application entity 2115.

It will be apparent to persons of ordinary skill in the art that theexample entity relationship diagram of FIG. 12 and, thus the operationsdatabase 160, represents example relationships among the variousentities of the example system of FIG. 1 and, thus, represents theconfiguration parameters necessary to create a configuration record forthe gateway entity 2130. For instance, although not exhaustive, thedatabase queries illustrated in FIGS. 13A, 14A, 15A and 16A are exampledatabase queries performed in Microsoft Access on an example databasehaving the example entity relationships illustrated in FIG. 12. Theexample database queries illustrated in FIGS. 13A, 14A, 15A and 16Aobtain, among other things, configuration parameters for use in creatinga gateway configuration record. It will also be readily apparent topersons of ordinary skill in the art that the example queriesillustrated in FIGS. 13A, 14A, 15A and 16A could be performed using anyof a variety of alternative techniques (e.g., using command-line SQLqueries of an Oracle based database).

The example queries of FIGS. 13A, 14A, 15A and 16A result in, amongother things, the example query results illustrated in FIGS. 13B, 14B,15B and 16B, respectively. In the illustrated examples of FIGS. 1 and12, the example results of FIG. 13B represent dynamic configurationparameters necessary for creating a gateway configuration record sectionlike that illustrated in FIG. 11A. Likewise, the example results ofFIGS. 14B, 15B and 16B represent dynamic configuration parametersnecessary to create gateway configuration record sections like thoseillustrated in FIGS. 11C, 11D and 11E, respectively.

The query illustrated in FIG. 13A returns for a pre-determined GatewayID 2305, one or more sets of associated values that include anapplication dial-peer identifier 2310, an access number start 2315 andan access number end 2320 that may be used to determine a telephonenumber matching pattern, a tech-prefix 2325, an application type 2330and a message center identifier 2335 as illustrated in FIG. 13B.Likewise, the example query of FIG. 14A returns for a pre-determinedGateway ID 2305, one or more sets of associated values as illustrated inFIG. 14B that include a gateway interface 2340, a unified super-groupidentifier 2345 and a TBCT enable flag 2350.

Similarly, the query illustrated in FIG. 15A returns for apre-determined Gateway ID 2305, one or more sets of associated valuesthat include an outdial dial-peer identifier 2355, a unified super-groupidentifier 2345 and a description 2360 as illustrated in FIG. 15B.Likewise, the example query of FIG. 16A returns for a pre-determinedGateway ID 2305, one or more sets of associated values as illustrated inFIG. 16B that include a gateway interface 2340, a fax dial-peeridentifier 2365, telephone number matching pattern 2370, a unifiedsuper-group identifier 2345 and a description 2375.

FIG. 17 is flowchart representative of example machine readableinstructions that may be executed by a processor (e.g., the processor8010 of FIG. 87) to implement the example provisioner 162 of FIGS. 1and/or 10. The machine readable instructions of FIG. 17 may be executedby a processor, a controller and/or any other suitable processingdevice. For example, the machine readable instructions of FIG. 17 may beembodied in coded instructions stored on a tangible medium such as aflash memory, or RAM associated with the processor 8010 shown in theexample processor platform 8000 and discussed below in conjunction withFIG. 87. Alternatively, some or all of the example machine readableinstructions of FIG. 17 and/or the provisioner 162 of FIG. 1 may beimplemented using an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), aprogrammable logic device (PLD), a field programmable logic device(FPLD), discrete logic, hardware, etc. Additionally, some or all of theexample machine readable instructions of FIG. 17 and/or the provisioner162 may be implemented using software, hardware, firmware, and/or acombination of hardware and software and/or firmware. Also, some or allof the machine readable instructions of FIG. 17 and/or the provisioner162 of FIG. 1 may be implemented manually or as combinations of any ofthe foregoing techniques. Further, although the example machine readableinstructions of FIG. 17 are described with reference to the flowchartsof FIG. 17, persons of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciatethat many other methods of implementing the provisioner 162 may beemployed. For example, the order of execution of the blocks may bechanged, and/or some of the blocks described may be changed, eliminated,sub-divided, or combined.

The example machine readable instructions of FIG. 17 begin when theprovisioner 162 receives a gateway configuration request. The querier2005 first creates or empties a results text file (block 2202). Next,for each of the database queries necessary to gather all configurationparameters to create a gateway configuration record section and/orconfiguration record (block 2205), the querier 2005 performs a databasequery using, for example, SQL queries (block 2210) and stores the result2010 by, for example, concatenating them to the end of the results textfile (block 2215). If all database queries have not been completed(block 2220), control returns to block 2205 and the querier 2005performs the next database query. Alternatively, the database queryresults 2010 could be stored in volatile memory.

If all database queries have been completed (block 2220), the translator2015 processes the results 2010 of each database query (e.g., eachsection of the results text file, section of volatile memory, or each ora plurality of text files if results 2010 are stored in individualfiles) (block 2225). For each of the results 2010 (block 2225), thetranslator 2110 using, for example, a PERL script identifies, extractsand/or determines dynamic configuration parameters from the results 2010(block 2230). Some configuration parameters may be computed from one ormore parameters or variables in the results 2010. For example, theinterface parameter (e.g., interface serial 7/0:23 of the example ofFIG. 11C) is a combination of fields from the interface entity 2140 ofFIG. 12. The translator 2110 then combines the dynamic configurationparameters with standardized configuration parameters (block 2235) andcreates a configuration record section and/or a configuration record(block 2240). If not all results 2010 have been translated (block 2245),control returns to block 2225 and the translator 2110 translates thenext database results 2010.

If all results 2010 have been translated (block 2245), the configurer2115 loads the configuration record into the gateway or sends theconfiguration record to the gateway (block 2250), and ends the examplemachine executable instructions of FIG. 17.

It will be readily apparent to persons or ordinary skill in the art thatthe translator 2110 may alternatively not proceed serially through thedatabase query results 2010. For example, the translator 2110 may makemultiple passes through the results 2010 to create all the configurationrecord sections of one type, and then pass through the results 2010again to create configuration record sections of another type.

FIGS. 18A-C collectively illustrate a portion of an example gatewayconfiguration record suitable for a gateway manufactured by CiscoSystems, Inc. resulting from execution of the example machine executableinstructions of FIG. 17. Without any loss of generality, in theillustrated example of FIGS. 18A-C unified super-groups are referred toas trunk groups. The example configuration record of FIG. 18A-Ccontains, among other things, one or more of each of the exampleconfiguration record sections illustrated in FIGS. 11A-E. For example,example sections 2405A-D, 2410, 2415, and 2420A-B correspond to theexample section of FIG. 11B, FIG. 11C, FIG. 11A, FIG. 11D, respectively.The example configuration record of FIG. 18A-C also contains commentlines and other standard configuration record sections (e.g., sections2430, 2435, 2440, 2445, etc.).

IV. Outdial Resource Group (ODRG)

FIG. 19 illustrates an example apparatus for assigning and/or allocatingunified sub-group and ODRG resources. In the illustrated example, theapparatus is implemented by a resource assigner 3005 and the operationsdatabase 160. The resource assigner 3005 is structured to receive inputsfrom one or more administrators employed by, or otherwise associatedwith, a host enterprise (e.g., a service provider, a third party serviceprovider, etc.) or a client enterprise of the host enterprise (e.g., aprivate or public corporation, a partnership, a school, a university,etc.). To this end, the resource assigner 3005 of the illustratedexample is communicatively connected to the Internet or an intranet 3010to enable one or more administrators to interface with the resourceassigner 3005 to, for example, view and/or change the allocation ofshared outdial communication resources (e.g., unified sub-groups) and/ormake assignments related to ODRGs, as will be discussed in greaterdetail below. As shown in FIG. 19, the host enterprise 3015 may alsointerface directly to the resource assigner 3005 via a directcommunicative connection (e.g., via the UI 170) and/or a connection viathe Internet/intranet 3010.

In the example system of FIG. 19, the host enterprise 3015 (e.g., actingas a primary host enterprise) is the proprietor of the messaging systemand/or platform (comprised of, for example, the gateway 120A, thegatekeeper 135, the message center 130, the policy server 150 and theoperations database 160 of FIG. 1) and various communication resourcessuch as, for example, some or all of the PSTN switches 115A-C, some orall of the communication facilities 145A-C, and/or some or all of thePRIs (e.g., a DS1, DS3, OC-48, etc.). For instance, the example thecircuit groups 215A-C, their constituent PRIs and their logicallyrelated unified super-groups and unified sub-groups may be communicationresources owned by the host enterprise 3015. Alternatively, a hostenterprise 3015 (e.g., acting as a secondary host enterprise) maypurchase, lease, contract or otherwise obtain communication and/ormessaging services from a primary host enterprise, and then resell thethus acquired communication and/or messaging services to one or moremass-market subscribers and/or one or more client enterprises. Asecondary host enterprise may additionally or alternatively be aproprietor of various private communication resources such as, forexample, PRIs, private unified sub-groups, etc. operated by thesecondary host enterprise, or leased from and/or provided by acommunication service provider (e.g., a telco). As discussed below, inaddition to the inherent relationship discussed above between a primaryand a secondary host enterprise, host and secondary enterprises maydiffer in any of a variety of other ways. In the interest of brevity andclarity, throughout the following discussion the term host enterprise3015 is used to refer to a primary host enterprise 3015 and/or asecondary host enterprise 3015, unless explicitly noted otherwise.

In the example system of FIG. 1, a host enterprise 3015 sells and/orprovides messaging and/or communication services to a client enterpriseand/or client subscribers. For instance, the host enterprise 3015 maysell and/or otherwise provide mailboxes (i.e., messaging services) to aclient enterprise and make a portion of the host enterprise'scommunication resources available for the routing of indial calls to themailboxes and the routing of outdial call from the mailboxes on behalfof persons associated with the client enterprise (e.g., employees). Assuch, all or a part of the communication resources of the hostenterprise 3015 may be assigned (e.g., leased, assigned, sold, etc.),allocated and/or partitioned (e.g., exported) so as to be available toone or more client subscribers and/or client enterprises as discussed ingreater detail below. Examples of such partitions are represented by theexample unified sub-groups 225A and 225B of FIG. 2. A client enterprisemay additionally or alternatively be a proprietor of various privatecommunication resources such as, for example, PRIs, private unifiedsub-groups, etc. leased from and/or provided by a communication serviceprovider (e.g., a telco), over which indial and/or outdial callsassociated with the client enterprise may be routed. The client mayfurther utilize a combination of private communication resources andhost enterprise provided and/or partitioned communication resources.

While there may be any of a variety of relationships amongst host 3015and client enterprises, for example, a client enterprise could utilizeresource provided by multiple host enterprises 3015, persons of ordinaryskill in the art will recognize that any particular communication and/ormessaging system may implement certain restrictions. For instance, inthe example system of FIG. 1, a host enterprise 3015 can not be both ahost 3015 and a client enterprise (e.g., a client enterprise can notprovide services to another client enterprise) and a client enterprisecan be linked to only one host enterprise 3015.

The host enterprise 3015 may configure assignment and/or partitionparameters by interacting with the resource assigner 3005. Thoseconfigured parameters are stored in an operations database 160. Theclient enterprise may also configure the some of the parameters byinteracting with the resource assigner 3005 via the communicativeconnection to the intranet/Internet 3010.

In the interest of brevity and ease of discussion, throughout theremainder of this disclosure references will be made to a hostenterprise 3015 assigning and/or partitioning communication resources toone or more client enterprises. However, persons of ordinary skill inthe art will readily appreciate that the methods and systems describedherein are generally applicable to assigning and/or partitioningcommunication resources to one or more mass market subscribers,individuals, client subscribers, etc.

FIG. 20 illustrates an example implementation of the resource assigner3005 of FIG. 19. In the illustrated example, the host enterprise 3015and/or a client enterprise may access resource assigner 3005 modulesvia, for example, the Internet/intranet 3010 and one or morecommunication devices 3025. The communication devices 3025 may enablecommunication via web-pages and/or graphical and/or command-line userinterfaces and/or kiosks (e.g., the UI 170 of FIG. 1). In theillustrated example of FIG. 20, the resource assigner 3005 includes asuper-group assigner module 3030, a feature resource assigner 3100, andODRG sub-group assigner 3320, an ODRG resource assigner 3450 and asubscriber assigner 3505, each of which interacts with the communicationdevice(s) 3025 to provide an interface to receive and process inputs toset and/or modify communication and/or system resource configurationparameters which are stored in the operations database 160.

For instance, the super-group assigner module 3030 facilitatespartitioning of the resources of a unified super-group among unifiedsub-groups as shown in FIG. 21. For example, by partitioning a sharedunified super-group into multiple unified sub-groups, or associating asingle unified sub-group with a private unified super-group. In theillustration of FIG. 21, an example outdial shared unified super-group3035 is comprised of a DS1 having a capacity of 23 data and/or voicechannels 3040. The primary host enterprise 3015 may assign, allocate,make available and/or partition some or all of the resources of theshared unified super-group 3035 to one or more client enterprises 3045(e.g., Client A, Client B, Client C and Client D). In the example ofFIG. 21, the shared unified super-group 3040 is divided (partitioned)into four unified sub-groups (A-D) 3050, 3060, 3070 and 3075. In theillustrated example, unified sub-group A 3050 is assigned a capacity of10 channels 3055, unified sub-group B 3060 is assigned a capacity of 4channels 3065, and unified sub-groups C and D (3070, 3075) are eachassigned a capacity of 3 channels (3080, 3085). As divided in theexample of FIG. 21, the combined capacity of unified sub-groups Athrough D consume 20 channels 3090, thereby leaving 3 available forother purposes. Each of the unified sub-groups A through D may, in turn,be assigned and/or otherwise made available to the Clients A-D asillustrated in FIG. 21. For instances, Client A may associate one ormore ODRGs with the unified sub-group A and, thus, persons associatedwith client A assigned to one of the associated ODRGs may have theiroutdial calls routed over the resources of the unified sub-group A.

As discussed above, unified sub-groups for outdial communications arecategorized in at least three different ways. The first category, publicunified sub-groups are, for example, circuit groups owned, leased orotherwise allocated to a primary host enterprise and intended for use bymass market customers, but may also be made available to one or moreclient enterprises. The second category, private unified sub-groups are,for example, circuit groups owned, leased or otherwise directlyallocated and/or provisioned to a secondary host enterprise and/or aclient enterprise. The third category, shared unified sub-groups are,for example, created from shared unified super-groups owned, leased orotherwise allocated to a primary host enterprise and then sub-dividedinto unified sub-groups which are then assigned and/or made available toone or more client enterprises needing or desiring a number of resourcesin addition to, or as an alternate to, any private unified sub-groupsthey may possess and/or have access to. While in the example system ofFIG. 1 each shared unified sub-groups created from a shared unifiedsuper-group is assigned to only one client enterprise, and a privateunified super-group may be associated with only one unified sub-groupbut may be made available to multiple client enterprises, persons ofordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate that any of a varietyof mappings between unified super-groups, unified sub-groups and cliententerprises may be implemented. As will be discussed later, a cliententerprise may use a combination of unified sub-group types and theselection and/or utilization of such sub-groups may be featuredependent.

As discussed in Section VI, unified sub-groups may also be assigned toprovide dedicated and/or shared resources for one or more specificfeatures. Because outdial resources are limited, in the illustratedexample some features are assigned and/or allocated more resources and,thus, a higher probability of successful completion when requesting toconsume unified sub-group resources for an outdial communicationservice. For example, the host enterprise 3015 and/or a cliententerprise may define Reminder features to take precedence over a LiveReply feature so that subscribers are more likely to receive, forexample, their wake-up call on time. Of course, a feature can onlycomplete via a given unified sub-group if the unified sub-group hasavailable resources that are not already consumed by another service.Therefore, when both a Reminder and a Live Reply feature compete forunified sub-group resources, if, as in the above example, the Reminderservice is assigned more resources, the resources in contention are,generally, more likely to be available to the Reminder feature than tothe Live Reply feature. In other words, because there are limitednetwork resources in any given unified sub-group, to the extent networkdemand is sufficiently high to exceed those resources, the resourcesrequired to perform the Reminder feature are more likely to be availableto execute that feature than the resources required to perform the LiveReply feature, if the unified sub-group is configured to assign moreresources to the Reminder feature relative to the Live Reply feature. Itwill be understood that even though a service is assigned more resourcesthan others services, there may not be resources available to completeresource request for either service.

Returning to FIG. 20, the feature resource assigner module 3100facilitates defining the partitioning of the resources of a unifiedsub-group on a feature by feature basis. As discussed earlier, the hostenterprise 3015 and/or a client enterprise may access the featureresource assigner module 3100 via the communication device(s) 3025through, for example, dynamic web-pages and/or a graphical and/orcommand-line user interface, a kiosk, or other user interface. FIG. 22illustrates an example unified sub-group configuration table 3110containing parameters at least some of which may be modified by the hostenterprise 3015 and/or a client enterprise to assign resources of aunified sub-group to one or more features utilizing a unified sub-group.The example unified sub-group 3050 of FIG. 21 has a name SubGrp A (SG-A)3120 and includes 10 channels 3130 available for dedication and/orassignment to one or more features (see FIG. 21). Of the 10 channels3130, the unified sub-group SG-A 3120 allocates 6 channels 3140 to oneor more features on a shared basis. As was discussed with reference toFIG. 21, in this example the unified sub-group SG-A 3050 has a totalcapacity of 10 channels and the example configuration of FIG. 22allocates 6 of those channels to shared features. Thus, the illustratedexample leaves a maximum of 4 remaining channels for dedication tovarious features. In the illustrated example, the features capable ofconsuming SG-A 3120 resources include Live Reply 3145, Auto Attendant3150, Notifications 3155, Reminders 3160, and Fax 3165. The total of thededicated capacities over all the features cannot exceed the dedicatedcapacity for SG-A (in this example, 4 channels). In the example of FIG.22, the Live Reply feature 3145 has a shared limit of 3 and a dedicatedlimit of 2. Therefore, a maximum of 5 channels may be used to servicethe Live Reply feature at any given time. Because only 2 channels arededicated to the Live Reply 3150 feature, in the example of FIG. 22, amaximum of 2 channels may be used to accommodate Live Reply callers atany given time. Dedication of resources to real time features such asLive Reply and Auto Attendant may improve the likelihood of a resourcebeing available to those features, while features deemed less important(e.g., non-real-time features) may, for example, only be allocatedshared resources.

FIG. 23 illustrates another example unified sub-group configurationtable 3170 whose parameters have been defined by interaction with thefeature resource assigner 3100. The table 3170 illustrates anotherexample configuration of the example unified sub-group SubGrp A 3050 ofFIG. 21 which is again labeled SG-A 3120 in FIG. 23. The example unifiedsub-group SG-A 3120 is defined to have 10 available dedicated channels3130 (see FIG. 21) of which 10 are available as shared channels 3185 inthe example of FIG. 23. Unlike the example of FIG. 22, the exampleunified sub-group configuration illustrated in FIG. 23 assigns all ofits channels to features in a shared manner. None of its channels arededicated to any particular feature. With the exception of the LiveReply feature 3190, all of the other features may share the unifiedsub-group SG-A 3120 equally, up to the physical limit imposed by thetotal number of channels in the sub-group (i.e., 10). However, the LiveReply feature 3190 is restricted such that it may consume no more than 2channels at any given time. In the illustrated example of FIG. 23, fourout of the five example features (i.e., Auto Attend, Notification,Reminders, and Fax) have the capability of entirely consuming thesub-group resources because none of the features are provided withdedicated channels and no limit, other than the physical limit of the 10channels in the sub-group, is imposed in the “Limit On Shared” column.Of course, whenever one feature is consuming all of the resources, otherfeatures are blocked. To distribute the resource use such that no singlefeatures may, in itself, entirely consume all of the resources, the“Limit On Shared” values for each of the shared features may be reducedto a number less than the amount of physically available channels (e.g.,to a number less than 10 such as, for instance, 5). Limiting eachfeature to, for example, using a maximum of 5 channels at any given time(e.g., by setting the “Limit On Shared” field to 5 for each feature)would limit each feature to using no more than 50% of the total capacityof the sub-group at any given time, thereby permitting one or more otherfeatures to function simultaneously, while leaving open the possibilitythat two of the features may consume 100% of the capacity at any giventime. Of course, other limits on shared resources may be implemented toachieve other results.

FIG. 24 illustrates another example unified sub-group configurationtable 3200 whose parameters have been set through interaction with thefeature resource assigner 3100. The table 3170 illustrates anotherexample configuration of the example unified sub-group SubGrp A 3050 ofFIG. 21 which is again labeled SG-A 3120 in FIG. 24. In the illustratedexample, unified sub-group SG-A 3120 has 10 channels 3130 (see FIG. 21).All of those 10 channels 3130 have been made available for dedicationsince no channels have been made available for sharing (i.e., there arenot available shared channels 3230). In contrast with the example ofFIG. 23 in which all of the channels were shared, in the example of FIG.24 all of the channels are dedicated across the various features. Forinstance, 2 channels have been dedicated to the Live Reply feature, 4channels have been dedicated to the Auto Attendant feature, 2 channelshave been dedicated to the Notification feature, 1 channel has beendedicated to the Reminders feature, and 1 channel has been dedicated tothe Fax feature.

FIG. 25 illustrates yet another example unified sub-group configurationtable 3260 whose parameters have been set through interaction with thefeature resource assigner 3100. The table 3260 illustrates anotherexample configuration of the example unified sub-group SubGrp A 3050 ofFIG. 21 which is again labeled SG-A 3120 in FIG. 25. In the illustratedexample, the unified sub-group SG-A 3120 has 10 available dedicatedchannels 3130 (see FIG. 21) of which 5 are allocated as shared channels3290. However, each of the features applies a limit of only 4 sharedchannels 3300 and 1 dedicated channel 3310. As a result, no singlefeature can utilize more than 50% (i.e., 1 dedicated plus 4 sharedequals 5 out of 10) of the total available channels at any time. As canbe seen from the foregoing examples, unified sub-groups may beconfigured in such a manner to accommodate varying subscriber needsand/or enterprise priorities and/or preferences.

Returning to FIG. 20, the ODRG sub-group assigner module 3320facilitates assignment of ODRGs to a unified sub-group. As discussed,above, the host enterprise 3015 or a client enterprise (e.g., Client Aor B of FIG. 21) may interact with the ODRG sub-group assigner module3320 via the communication device(s) 3025 to associate an ODRG with aunified sub-group. For example, a client enterprise may associate one ormore of their ODRGs with one or more unified sub-groups that have beenassigned and/or made available (i.e., exported) to the client enterpriseby a host enterprise and with one or more private sub-groups possessedby the client enterprise. For instance in the example system of FIG. 1,a shared unified sub-group made available by a primary host enterpriseor a private unified sub-group made available by a secondary hostenterprise. As discussed above, ODRGs facilitate a flexible method ofassigning, allocating and sharing communication resources.

As will be discussed more fully in connection with the policy server150, when an outdial service call is initiated by a subscriber, the ODRGassociated with a subscriber dictates which unified sub-group types maybe used to accommodate the outdial communication service request. Inparticular, in the illustrated example, every subscriber, call treesubscriber number, and/or CTAN is assigned to an ODRG. Further, everyODRG is associated with one or more unified sub-group types. Therefore,assigning a subscriber, call tree subscriber number, and/or CTAN to anODRG allows the example system of FIG. 1 to determine the communicationresources that may be used for outdial communication services.

Returning to FIG. 20, the ODRG sub-group assigner 3320 facilitates thecreation of unified sub-groups and editing of the properties of newlycreated and/or existing unified sub-groups. For instance, the exampleODRG sub-group assigner 3320 of FIG. 20 interacts with an administratorof the host enterprise 3015 or a client thereof via the communicationdevice(s) 3025 to name one or more unified sub-groups and define itsproperties. Defining the properties of a sub-group includes, forexample, assigning one or more available ODRGs to the unified sub-group.

An example graphical user interface (GUI) 3330A provided by the ODRGsub-group assigner 3320 for creating and editing unified sub-groups isshown in FIG. 26A. As shown in FIG. 26A, the interface 3330A may beimplemented as a web page, or by any other format. A client enterprisemay use the example interface 3330A to configure both unified sub-groupsassigned and/or available to the client enterprise by the hostenterprise 3015 and the unified sub-groups owned directly by the cliententerprise. The host enterprise uses the example interface 3330A toconfigure only those unified sub-groups owned by the host enterprise. Asalso shown in FIG. 26A, creation or editing of a unified sub-group willoccur in view of the unified super-group to which it is associatedand/or belongs (i.e., its parent) and, accordingly, not all parametersof a unified sub-group are editable via the ODRG sub-group assigner3320. For example, some parameters of the unified super-group aredefined by the host enterprise 3015 and are not subject to change by aclient enterprise (e.g., an administrator of the client enterprise) viathe ODRG sub-group assigner 3320. Further, the ODRG sub-group assigner3320 of the illustrated example is not structured to modify propertiesof the unified super-group. Thus, for example, as identified at the topof the example GUI 3330A, the name of the unified super group 3340associated with the unified sub-group is determined and set by the hostenterprise 3015 via the super-group assigner module 3030. Similarly, thedescription of the unified super group 3350 is a function of the unifiedsuper-group and is not a parameter that is editable by the ODRGsub-group assigner 3320. As a further example, the group type 3355 isset by the host enterprise 3015 and is not editable via the ODRGsub-group assigner 3320. Similarly, the LATA 3360 with which the unifiedsub-group is associated is a function of the physical location ofcommunication resources associated with the unified sub-group and is,thus, not subject to change. Further, an enterprise identifier 3380 towhich the unified sub-group belongs is not editable via the ODRGsub-group assigner 3320. Additionally, the capacity 3390 of the unifiedsub-group is a limitation of the unified sub-group set by the hostenterprise 3015 and is not editable via the ODRG sub-group assigner3320.

In the illustrated example, unified sub-group creation and editing isperformed by modifying one or more fields in the GUI 3330A. Exampleeditable fields include, but are not limited to, a unified sub-group ID3365 (i.e., a name for the unified sub-group), and a unified sub-groupdescription 3370 (e.g., an explanation of a characteristic of thesub-group).

Each unified sub-group is associated with a list of one or more ODRGsthat represent which subscribers (e.g., employees, students, etc. of aclient enterprise) may have access to its resources. By default, in theillustrated example all ODRGs associated with a unified sub-group typecan use the resources of a unified sub-group having the matching unifiedsub-group type. However, if the “Restricted to the following OutdialResource Groups (ODRGs)” check-box 3400 is selected in FIG. 26A, thenspecific ODRGs may be associated and/or disassociated with/from theunified sub-group, thus, over-riding the default condition of an ODRG.The ODRG management option (check-box 3400) permits the host enterprise3015 or a client enterprise to manage ODRG resources.

The example configuration interface 3330A of FIG. 26A includes a list ofavailable ODRGs 3410. Any of the ODRGs in the list 3410 may beassociated with the unified sub-group by selecting an ODRG from the list3410 and choosing an add function 3420. ODRGs that are associated withthe unified sub-group are listed in a configured ODRG list 3430. ODRGsin the configured ODRG list 3430 may be disassociated from the unifiedsub-group by selecting the ODRG and choosing a remove function 3440.Indial and outdial calls associated with subscribers, call treesubscriber numbers and/or CTANs belonging to any of the ODRGs listed inthe configured ODRG list 3430 may use the unified sub-group listed inthe unified sub-group ID 3365.

In addition to the editing restrictions mentioned above, variousrestrictions may be applied to types of information a client enterprisecan view via the ODRG sub-group assigner 3320. For example, a clientcannot edit or view the assigned and/or partitioned resources underlyinga unified sub-group, however, may be able to view resource parametersassigned or leased to another client enterprise, etc. It will be readilyapparent to persons of ordinary skill in the art that a messaging and/orcommunication system and/or service may implement alternative and/oradditional restrictions to those described above in connection withFIGS. 26A-B and below in connection with FIGS. 27 and 28.

An example graphical user interface (GUI) 3330B provided by the ODRGsub-group assigner 3320 for creating and editing unified sub-groups isshown in FIG. 26B by an administrator of the host enterprise 3015. Asshown in FIG. 26B, the interface 3330B may be implemented as a web page,or by any other format. Without any loss of generality, in theillustrated example of FIG. 26B unified sub-groups are referred to aslogical trunk groups. The example interface 3330B is similar to theexample interface 3330A of FIG. 26A and, thus, the description ofportions of FIG. 26B will not be repeated here. Instead, the interestedreader is referred back to the corresponding description of FIG. 26A. Tofacilitate this process, like elements have been numbered with likereference numerals in FIGS. 26A and 26B.

The example configuration interface 3330B of FIG. 26B includes aneditable field 3391 to specify the number of resources of the unifiedsub-group reserved for indial calls. Each unified sub-group is alsoassociated with a list of one or more client enterprises may have accessto its resources. By default, in the illustrated example all cliententerprises are associated with a unified super-group and can use theresources of the unified sub-group. However, if the “Select enterprisesyou wish to allow access to this LTG” check-box 3392 is selected in FIG.26B, then specific client enterprises may be associated and/ordisassociated with/from the unified sub-group, thus, over-riding thedefault condition of a unified sub-group. In the example system of FIG.1, the example interface 3330B is used by a host enterprise 3015 forconfiguring two-way private unified sub-groups. However, persons ofordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate that the exampleinterface 3330B could be used by a host enterprise 3015 to associateclient enterprises with other types of unified sub-groups.

The example configuration interface 3330B of FIG. 26B includes a list ofavailable client enterprises 3393. Any of the client enterprises in thelist 3393 may be associated with the unified sub-group by selecting aclient enterprise from the list 3393 and choosing an add function 3394.Client enterprises that are associated with the unified sub-group arelisted in a selected client enterprises list 3395. Client enterprises inthe selected client enterprise list 3395 may be disassociated from theunified sub-group by selecting the client enterprise and choosing aremove function 3396. Indial and outdial calls associated withsubscribers, call tree subscriber numbers and/or CTANs belonging to anyof the client enterprises listed in the selected client enterprise list3396 may use the unified sub-group listed in the unified sub-group ID3365 (assuming they also belong to a configured ODRG for the unifiedsub-group).

Returning to FIG. 20, the example resource assigner 3005 includes anODRG resource assigner module 3450 to facilitate ODRG parameterconfiguration. For instance, the example ODRG resource assigner module3450 of FIG. 20 interacts with an administrator from the host enterprise3015 or a client enterprise thereof via the communication device(s) 3025to enable and/or disable features for the ODRG and/or to determine thetype(s) of unified sub-groups (e.g., private, public, etc.) that may beused to route an outdial service.

An example Internet-based graphical user interface 3455 provided by theexample ODRG resource assigner module 3450 of FIG. 20 is shown in FIG.27. In the example GUI of FIG. 27, various parameters of the ODRG areidentified at the top of the screen 3455 including, but not limited to,an enterprise identifier 3460 to which the ODRG belongs, and anenterprise description 3465. In the illustrated example, editing of ODRGmay include editing an ODRG description 3470 and/or editing unifiedsub-group type usage and prioritization for various features. Forinstance, in the illustrated example, the Fax Print feature 3475, theLive Reply feature 3480, and the Messaging Call Transfer feature 3485are all assigned to only utilize unified sub-groups have a unifiedsub-group type of private.

In the example of FIG. 27, unified sub-group type assignments may bemade to various features. For example, the example GUI of FIG. 27includes a drop-down selection box 3490 for a Pager Notification feature3495. Selections within the drop-down selection box 3490 identifyvarious permutations of unified sub-group types, in prioritized order,to be used, as described above, when authorizing and/or routing anoutdial communication service. For example, a selection of “Public,Private, SBCM” 3500 indicates that the Pager Notification feature 3495first attempts to use public unified sub-groups, then private unifiedsub-groups, and finally SBCM unified sub-groups. In the example of FIG.27, a SBCM unified sub-group type refers to a shared unified sub-grouptype. Similar drop-down selection boxes are provided for the otherfeatures on the GUI 3455.

Returning to FIG. 20, the example resource assigner 3005 includes asubscriber assigner module 3505 to facilitate the assignment ofsubscribers to ODRGs. For instance, the example subscriber assignermodule 3505 of FIG. 20 interacts with an administrator from the hostenterprise 3015 or a client enterprise thereof via the communicationdevice(s) 3025 in order to associate a particular subscriber with aparticular ODRG.

An example Internet-based graphical user interface 3510 provided by theexample subscriber assigner module 3505 of FIG. 20 is shown in FIG. 28.In the example GUI of FIG. 28, selection of an ODRG from a drop downfield 3515 and selection of a subscriber from a drop-down field 3530 isenabled to associate or disassociate the selected subscriber and theselected ODRG. In the example of FIG. 28, ODRG 3 3520 has been selectedand is displayed on a selection indicator 3525. Similarly, John Doe hasbeen selected 3535 and is displayed on a subscriber selection indicator3540. After the ODRG and subscriber are selected, either an associatebutton 3545 or disassociate button 3550 may be selected to associate ordisassociate the selected subscriber to/from the selected ODRG,respectively. The assignment of subscribers to ODRGs in the examplesystem of FIG. 1, allows a host enterprise and/or a client enterprise tospecify which subscribers have access to which sets of unifiedsub-groups (i.e., shared communication resources).

In the example system of FIG. 1, mass market subscribers of a hostenterprise are associated with a mass market ODRG and public unifiedsub-groups are implicitly associated with the mass market ODRG. It willbe apparent to persons of ordinary skill in the art that acommunications and/or messaging system may, for mass market subscribers,associate ODRGs and unified sub-groups differently.

The combination of ODRGs and the sharing of unified sub-groups allowsthe client enterprise 3045 to implement hybrid ODRGs. A hybrid ODRG maypoint to one or more unified sub-group types that are privately owned bythe client enterprise 3045 (FIG. 21) (e.g., a private PSTN based unifiedsub-group purchased by the client enterprise 3045) and to one or moreother unified sub-groups that are shared by one or more cliententerprises (e.g., a private unified sub-group made available by thehost enterprise to the client enterprise 3045 and, potentially, to otherclient enterprises). For instance, the client enterprise may utilizeVoIP telephony and messaging services provided by the host enterprisefor a first set of persons (e.g., employees) together with messagingservices provided by the host enterprise for PSTN based persons. Such aclient enterprise, thus, contains, for example, mailboxes that are bothPSTN and VoIP based. As a result, employing hybrid ODRGs permits outdialsupport for subscribers having access points, accounts and/or mailboxesthat are associated with dissimilar unified sub-groups and/orcommunications networks.

For example, FIG. 29 illustrates a subscriber's hybrid ODRG 3555, asub-group A 3560, and sub-a group B 3565. For example, the cliententerprise may have be assigned and/or have had the unified sub-group A3560 made available by a host enterprise (e.g., a VoIP unifiedsub-group) and may own the unified sub-group B 3565 (e.g., a privatePSTN unified sub-group). As a result, the subscriber's hybrid ODRG 3555references both unified sub-groups (3560, 3565) to better facilitatevarious indial and/or outdial communication features. The hybrid ODRGpermits, for example, entering the host enterprise's messaging platformvia one network (e.g., PSTN or VoIP) or LATA Y 3570 and then attempts toexit the platform to another network (e.g., VoIP or PSTN) or LATA Z3575. For instance, it is possible to enter a call tree via the hostprovided sub-group B 3565 (e.g., VoIP) and then transfer to a mailboxthat is PSTN based and, thus, would normally have used the cliententerprise's unified sub-group 3560 to enter the platform. Since theremay not be a PSTN unified sub-group (i.e., a client unified sub-group)in the indial gateway LATA of the call tree, the mailbox may need accessto the host's unified sub-group 3565 to authorize and/or allocate anysubsequent outdial communication service if, for example, an outdial isrestricted to exiting the messaging platform via the indial gatewayLATA.

Flowcharts representative of example machine readable instructions forimplementing the resource assigner 3005 of FIGS. 19 and 20 are shown inFIGS. 30-35. In this example, the machine readable instructions comprisea program for execution by: (a) a processor such as the processor 8010shown in the example computer 8000 discussed below in connection withFIG. 55, (b) a controller, and/or (c) any other suitable processingdevice. The program may be embodied in software stored on a tangiblemedium such as, for example, a flash memory, a CD-ROM, a floppy disk, ahard drive, a digital versatile disk (DVD), or a memory associated withthe processor 8010, but persons of ordinary skill in the art willreadily appreciate that the entire program and/or parts thereof couldalternatively be executed by a device other than the processor 8010and/or embodied in firmware or dedicated hardware in a well known manner(e.g., it maybe implemented by an application specific integratedcircuit (ASIC), a programmable logic device (PLD), a field programmablelogic device (FPLD), discrete logic, etc.). For example, any or all ofthe resource assigner 3005, the super-group assigner module 3030, thefeature resource assigner 3100, the ODRG sub-group assigner 3320, theODRG resource assigner 3450 and/or the subscriber assigner 3505 could beimplemented by software, hardware, and/or firmware. Also, some or all ofthe machine readable instructions represented by the flowcharts of FIGS.30-35 may be implemented manually. Further, although the example programis described with reference to the flowcharts illustrated in FIGS.30-35, persons of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate thatmany other methods of implementing the example machine readableinstructions may alternatively be used. For example, the order ofexecution of the blocks may be changed, and/or some of the blocksdescribed may be changed, eliminated, or combined.

The example machine readable instructions of FIG. 30 begin with theresource assigner 3005 waiting to receive a communication from a usersuch as an administrator of the host enterprise 3015 or an administratorof a client enterprise (block 3608). When a communication is received,the resource assigner 3005 examines the instruction to determine if itis a request to interact with the super-group assigner module 3030, thefeature resource assigner 3100, the ODRG sub-group assigner 3320, theODRG resource assigner 3450 and/or the subscriber assigner 3505. If thereceived communication is a request to access the super-group assigner3030 to, for example, assign and/or partition a super-group (block3610), control advances FIG. 31 where a graphical user interface isprovided to the requesting user. The graphical user interface providesthe user with an opportunity to select a unified super-group (block3615) or to exit from the graphical user interface (block 3624). When aunified super-group (e.g., the unified super-group 3035 of FIG. 21) isselected (block 3615), the super-group assigner module 3030 retrievesthe record of the selected unified super-group from the operationsdatabase 160. The super-group assigner module 3030 then provides theuser with an opportunity to create a new unified sub-group from theselected super-group (block 3620) and/or to adjust the capacity ofexisting unified sub-groups associated with the selected super-group(block 3617). In the example of FIG. 31, the super-group assigner module3030 enables the user to indicate a desire to create a new unifiedsub-group by entering a unique unified sub-group name (e.g., sub-groupA) in a field of a graphical user interface (block 3620). When such aninput is received, the super-group assigner module 3030 creates a newunified sub-group record within the operations database 160 (block3622).

If at block 3617, the super-group assigner module 3030 determines thatthe user has entered a new value in the capacity field associated with aunified sub-group, the super-group assigner module 3030 updates therecord of the corresponding unified sub-group to reflect the capacityassignment (block 3619). The total capacity of the unified super-groupmay be allocated among one or more unified sub-groups in any desiredfashion as described above. For example, the example unified sub-groupsof FIG. 21 were assigned, respectively, 10 channels for sub-group A3050, 4 channels for sub-group B 3060, and 3 channels for sub-groups C3070 and D 3075.

Whenever a user adjusts the capacity of a unified sub-group (Blocks 3617and 3619) or creates a new unified sub-group (blocks 3620 and 3622),control returns to the top of the flowchart of FIG. 31, where the useris provided the opportunity to select a different unified super-group(block 3615), to exit the super-group assigner module 3030 (block 3624)such that control returns to the example machine readable instructionsof FIG. 30, to create another unified sub-group for the currentlyselected super-group (block 3620), and/or to adjust the capacity of anexisting unified sub-group associated with the currently selectedunified sub-group (block 3617).

Returning to FIG. 30, if the received communication is a request toaccess the feature resource assigner 3100 to, for example, configure aunified sub-group (block 3630), control advances to FIG. 32 where agraphical user interface is provided to the requesting user. Thegraphical user interface provides the user with an opportunity to selecta unified sub-group (block 3632) or to exit from the graphical userinterface (block 3634). When a unified sub-group is selected (block3632), the feature resource assigner 3100 retrieves the record for theselected unified sub-group from the operations database 160 (block3636).

The feature resource assigner 3100 then provides the user with anopportunity to adjust the dedicated capacity and/or the shared capacityassigned to the selected sub-group (block 3638), and/or to select anoutdial communication service type (i.e., feature) for capacityadjustment (block 3642). As noted above, the total capacity for aunified sub-group is set by the super-group assigner module 3030, not bythe feature resource assigner 3100. However, the feature resourceassigner 3100 provides the user with the opportunity to categorize thecapacities of the unified sub-group into dedicated resources and sharedresources on a per feature basis (block 3638). When the user enters anew value into the fields of the graphical user interface to indicatethe division of resources between the dedicated and shared categoriesfor a feature (block 3638), the feature resource assigner 3100 updatesthe record of the unified sub-group (block 3640).

Returning to block 3642 of FIG. 32, if a user selects an outdialfeature, the graphical user interface associated with the featureresource assigner 3100 provides the user with the opportunity to definethe number of dedicated resources and/or the number of shared resourcesthat the currently selected unified sub-group is to assign to thecurrently selected feature (block 3644). The feature resource assigner3100 stored the values (if any) entered into the dedicated and/or sharedresource fields for the resource selected at block 3642 in the recordfor the unified sub-group (block 3646). An example of allocating theresources of a sub-group among features is shown in FIG. 22 where theLive Reply feature 3145 is shown to have been assigned a dedicatedcapacity of 2 channels and a shared capacity of 3 channels.

Whenever a user adjusts the dedicated and/or shared capacity of aunified sub-group (blocks 3638 and 3640), selects a feature (block3642), and/or allocates dedicated and/or shared resources to a feature(blocks 3642 and 3644), control returns to the top of the flowchart ofFIG. 32, where the user is provided the opportunity to select adifferent unified sub-group (block 3632) or to return to the examplemachine readable instructions of FIG. 30.

Returning to FIG. 30, if the received communication is a request toaccess the ODRG sub-group assigner 3320 to, for example, assign variousODRGs to one or more unified sub-groups (block 3655), control advancesto FIG. 33 where a graphical user interface such as the graphical userinterface shown in FIG. 26A is provided to the requesting user. Thegraphical user interface provides the user with an opportunity to selecta unified sub-group (block 3657) or to exit from the graphical userinterface (block 3659). When a unified sub-group is selected (block3657), the ODRG sub-group assigner 3320 retrieves the record for theselected unified sub-group from the operations database 160 (block3661). As shown in the example of FIG. 26A, a sub-group may be selectedby, for example, entering its name in the Sub-Group Id field 3365 orselecting its name from a drop down menu associated with that field3365.

Once a unified sub-group is selected (block 3657), the ODRG sub-groupassigner 3320 provides the user with an opportunity to associate an ODRGwith the selected sub-group (block 3663) or to disassociate an ODRG fromthe selected sub-group (block 3665). In the example of FIG. 26A, thisopportunity is provided by enabling the user to select one or more ODRGsfrom a list 3410 of available ODRGs and/or a list 3430 of ODRGs alreadyassociated with the sub-group selected at block 3657. If the user entersan instruction to associate an ODRG with the sub-group (block 3663)and/or to disassociate an ODRG from the sub-group (block 3665), the ODRGsub-group assigner 3320 updates the record of the unified sub-group toreflect the change (block 3667).

Whenever a user associates or disassociates an ODRG with/from asub-group (block 3663 or 3665), control returns to the top of theflowchart of FIG. 33, where the user is provided the opportunity toselect a different unified sub-group (block 3657), to exit the ODRGsub-group assigner 3320 (block 3659) such that control returns to theexample machine readable instructions of FIG. 30, to associate anotherODRG with the currently selected unified sub-group (block 3663), and/orto disassociate another ODRG from the currently selected unifiedsub-group (block 3665).

Returning to FIG. 30, if the received communication is a request toaccess the ODRG resource assigner 3450 to, for example, indicate theunified sub-group resources that a selected ODRG is to use to implementvarious features (block 3670), control advances to FIG. 34 where agraphical user interface (e.g., the graphical user interface of FIG. 27)is provided to the requesting user. The graphical user interfaceprovides the user with an opportunity to select an ODRG (block 3672) orto exit from the graphical user interface (block 3674) of the ODRGresource assigner 3450 such that control returns to the example machinereadable instructions of FIG. 30. When an ODRG is selected (block 3672),the ODRG resource assigner 3450 retrieves the record for the selectedODRG from the operations database 160 (block 3676).

Once an ODRG is selected (block 3672), the ODRG resource assigner 3450provides the user with an opportunity to select a feature (block 3678).In the example of FIG. 27, selection of a feature at block 3678 resultsin a drop down menu wherein a user can select one or more types ofunified sub-groups that may be used by the ODRG in servicing theassociated feature and/or the user can disable the feature for theselected ODRG (block 3680). If one or more unified sub-group types(e.g., private, public, shared (i.e., SBCM), etc.) are assigned to afeature (block 3680), the ODRG resource assigner 3450 updates the recordof the ODRG (block 3682).

Whenever a user selects a feature (block 3678) and/or assigns one ormore unified sub-group types to a feature (blocks 3680 and/or 3682),control returns to the top of the flowchart of FIG. 34, where the useris provided the opportunity to select a different ODRG (block 3672), toexit the ODRG resource assigner 3450 (block 3674) such that controlreturns to the example machine readable instructions of FIG. 30, toselect a different feature (block 3678), and/or to change the unifiedsub-group type(s) assigned to the currently selected feature (block3680).

Returning to FIG. 30, if the received communication is a request toaccess the subscriber assigner 3505 to, for example, assign one or moresubscribers to an ODRG (block 3685), control advances to FIG. 35 where agraphical user interface such as the GUI of FIG. 28 is provided to therequesting user. The graphical user interface provides the user with anopportunity to select an ODRG (block 3687) or to exit from the graphicaluser interface (block 3689) associated with the subscriber assigner3505.

When an ODRG is selected (block 3687), the subscriber assigner 3505retrieves the record for the selected ODRG from the operations database160 (block 3691). The subscriber assigner 3505 then provides the userwith an opportunity to select a subscriber from a database ofsubscribers (block 3693). When the user selects a subscriber (e.g., fromthe list 3535 of subscribers in FIG. 28) (block 3693), the graphicaluser interface associated with the subscriber assigner 3505 provides theuser with the opportunity to associate the subscriber with the ODRGselected at block 3695, and/or, if the selected subscriber is alreadyassociated with the selected ODRG, to disassociate the subscriber fromthe currently selected ODRG (block 3697). If a subscriber is to beassociated with the ODRG (block 3695), the subscriber assigner 3505stores an identifier which is preferably uniquely associated with thesubscriber in the record for the ODRG (block 3696). Similarly, if asubscriber is to be disassociated from the ODRG (block 3697), thesubscriber assigner 3505 removes the identifier of the subscriber fromthe record for the ODRG (block 3698).

Whenever a user associates or dissociates a subscriber to/from an ODRG(blocks 3695 and 3697), selects a subscriber (block 3693), and/orselects an ODRG (block 3687), control returns to the top of theflowchart of FIG. 35, where the user is provided the opportunity toselect a different ODRG (block 3687), to exit the subscriber assigner3505 (block 3689) and thus return to the example machine readableinstructions of FIG. 30, to select a different subscriber (block 3693),to add another subscriber to the currently selected ODRG (block 3695),and/or to disassociate another subscriber from the currently selectedODRG (block 3697).

FIG. 36 is a flowchart representative of example machine readableinstructions that may be executed by one or more processors (e.g., theprocessor 8010 of FIG. 55) of, for example, an application server 132and a policy server 150 to prepare a request for authorization and/orresource allocation for an outdial call and to provide a response to thesame. The machine readable instructions of FIG. 36 may be executed by aprocessor, a controller and/or any other suitable processing device. Forexample, the machine readable instructions of FIG. 36 may be embodied incoded instructions stored on a tangible medium such as a flash memory,or RAM associated with the processor 8010 shown in the example processorplatform 8000 and discussed below in conjunction with FIG. 55.Alternatively, some or all of the example machine readable instructionsof FIG. 36 may be implemented manually or as combinations of any of theforegoing techniques. Further, although the example machine readableinstructions of FIG. 36 is described with reference to the flowchart ofFIG. 36, persons of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciatethat many other methods of implementing the machine readableinstructions may be employed. For example, the order of execution of theblocks may be changed, and/or some of the blocks described may bechanged, eliminated, sub-divided, or combined.

The example machine readable instructions of FIG. 36 begins with theapplication server 132A waiting to receive a request to initiate anoutdial service from, for example, a subscriber (block 3800). When arequest is received (block 3800), the application server 132A determinesthe ODRG to which the subscriber belongs (block 3802) by, for example,performing a look up in a directory (discussed below in Section VIII)associated with and/or linked to the operations database 160. Theapplication server 132A then forwards an authorization service requestmessage or combined routing and request message to the policy server 150(block 3804). As discussed earlier, the authorization request mayinclude, among other items, the subscriber identification, the ODRGidentifier, and the feature identifier.

As discussed above, the ODRG identifier permits a determination of oneor more unified sub-group types that could potentially be utilized.Based on the unified sub-group types, the ODRG, the feature and/or thecurrent allocation of unified sub-group resources, the policy server 150can make a determination as to whether the outdial call can currently beauthorized and can select a route (block 3806). The policy server 150then returns an authorization or combined authorization and routingresponse message to the application server 132A indicating whether theoutdial call is authorized or authorized and routed (block 3808).Control then returns to block 3800 to wait for another subscriberoutdial request.

Persons of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that, although forsimplicity of discussion, the above flowchart has been described withreference to a particular temporal order, there is no intention to limitthe examples to any such temporal order. For example, it is likely thatthe machine readable instructions represented by the flowchart of FIG.36 would be executed by spawning multiple threads to handle multiplerequests in parallel.

V. Outdial Authorizer

FIG. 37 depicts an example implementation of the outdial authorizer 1020of FIG. 4. As described above, the outdial authorizer 1020 may be usedto determine an authorization (e.g., YES, NO or CC) for an outdialcommunication service call (e.g., one of or the example outdialcommunication services listed in FIG. 3) initiated by any of theapplication servers 132 ((FIG. 1), and/or to provide routing rules tothe processor 1010 (FIG. 4) for an authorized outdial communicationservice call. In particular, upon initiating an outdial communicationservice call, the requesting application server 132 (e.g., one of theapplication servers 132 that initiated the outdial communication servicecall) communicates an authorization request or combined authorizationand routing request to the policy server 150 which, in turn, provides anauthorization request to the outdial authorizer 1020. The outdialauthorizer 1020 uses rules stored in one or more authorization androuting data structures (e.g., tables 4200, 4300, 4400, 4500 and/or 4700of FIGS. 39A-C, 40 and 411) to determine whether to authorize therequested outdial communication service call and, additionally oralternatively, if the service call is authorized, to determineassociated routing rules based on one or more communication criteria(e.g., a real-time or non-real-time status (i.e., outdial call) type, anoutdial communication service (i.e., feature) type, a subscriber typecriterion, a unified sub-group type, a distance type, etc.) associatedwith the outdial communication service call.

As shown in FIG. 37, the example outdial authorizer 1020 includes anauthorization request interface 4002 communicatively coupled to theprocessor 1010. The authorization request interface 4002 is provided toreceive authorization requests for outdial communication service callscommunicated by the application servers 132 to the policy server 150. Inparticular, the messaging interface 1015 (FIG. 4) obtains theauthorization or combined authorization and routing requests andforwards the requests to the processor 1010, which, in turn, forwardsauthorization requests to the authorization request interface 4002. Theauthorization request interface 4002 also communicates the responses tothe authorization requests determined by the outdial authorizer 1020 tothe processor 1010.

To parse communication criterion associated with each outdialauthorization request, the outdial authorizer 1020 includes a criterionparser 4004 that is communicatively coupled to the authorization requestinterface 4002. In the illustrated example, the authorization requestinterface 4002 extracts, isolates, or otherwise obtains a criteriaportion (e.g., one or more criterion field(s) and/or variables of abitstream implementing the outdial authorization request) from theoutdial authorization request and communicates the criterion portion tothe criterion parser 4004. Of course, in an alternative exampleimplementation the authorization request interface 4002 may communicatethe outdial authorization request in its entirety to the criterionparser 4004. In either case, the criterion parser 4004 parses orseparates each criterion on which the outdial authorizer 1020 basesauthorization decisions and/or determines routing rules for authorizedoutdial communication service calls.

The example outdial authorizer 1020 of FIG. 37 uses various examplecriterion to determine an authorization for outdial communicationservices and/or to determine associated routing rules. An examplecriterion is an outdial call type (e.g., real-time or non-real-timeoutdial call). Real-time and non-real-time outdial communicationservices are described above in Section I and in connection with FIG. 3.

Another example criterion is a subscriber type (e.g., a local subscriberor a remote subscriber) associated with the requested outdialcommunication service. As described above in connection with FIG. 1, thesubscribers 105A and 105B (FIG. 1) are example local access subscribers,while the subscriber 105C (FIG. 1) is depicted as an example remoteaccess subscriber. Also as described above, whether a subscriber islocal or remote may be determined from the access number associated withthe subscriber, for example, the CFN associated with a subscriber'smailbox, a CTAN, a call tree subscriber number, etc.

Yet another example criterion is a distance type associated with therequested outdial service (e.g., intra-LATA or inter-LATA). Within theUnited States, the PSTN is divided into LATAs that originally weregeographic regions assigned to one or more telephone companies forproviding communication services. For example, an intra-LATA call is atelephone call between two telephone companies within the same region(i.e., LATA) and may, for example, be a local call or a local toll call(e.g., a call that originates and terminates in the same LATA). Aninter-LATA call is a telephone call between two local exchange carriersin different regions and may, for example, be a long-distance call(e.g., an inter-state call or a call that originates in one LATA andterminates in a different LATA).

A further example criterion is the feature type of the requested outdialcommunication service, which may include, for instance, any of theoutdial communication service types (i.e., feature types) shown in FIG.3.

Yet a further example criterion is the circuit type (e.g., public,private, shared, VoIP, etc.) of outdial unified sub-groups (e.g., theoutdial unified sub-group 225A and 225B) that may be selected, allocatedand over which the outdial communication service may be routed. In theexample system of FIG. 1, the type of a unified sub-group is inheritedfrom the underlying unified super-group. As described in greater detailbelow in connection with FIG. 38, the example system of FIG. 1 may beimplemented using one or more types of outdial unified sub-groups (e.g.,one or more types of the outdial unified sub-group 225A and 225B).Example types of unified sub-groups and unified super-groups arediscussed in more detail above in Section I and in connection with FIG.2.

Returning now to the example implementation of the outdial authorizer1020 of FIG. 37, to retrieve authorization and routing rules from one ormore data structures (e.g., the tables 4200, 4300, 4400, 4500 and/or4700 of FIGS. 39AA-C, 40 and/or 41) stored in the memory 1005, theoutdial authorizer 1020 is provided with an authorization and routingrules interface 4006 communicatively coupled to the criterion parser4004. In the illustrated example, the criterion parser 4004 communicatesthe parsed criteria to the authorization and routing rules interface4006, which, in turn, uses the criteria to retrieve a correspondingauthorization response (e.g., YES, NO or CC), correspondingauthorization rules and/or corresponding routing rules from the memory1005 for each of the outdial communication services requested by theapplication servers 132.

To analyze the authorization rules and/or the routing rules, the outdialauthorizer 1020 is provided with an authorization and routing rulesanalyzer 4008 communicatively coupled to the authorization and routingrules interface 4006. In the illustrated example, after retrieving theauthorization and routing rules from the memory 1005 based on thecriteria provided by the criterion parser 4004, the authorization androuting rules interface 4006 communicates the authorization and routingrules to the authorization and routing rules analyzer 4008, which, inturn, determines whether the requested outdial communication servicecall is authorized (e.g., an authorization response of YES, NO or CC)and determines the routing rules to be to be followed when selecting aroute and routing the requested outdial communication service call. Theauthorization and routing rules analyzer 4008 of the illustrated examplecommunicates the determined authorization and/or routing rules to theauthorization request interface 4002 that, in turn, communicates some orall of the same information to the processor 1010. The processor 1010then provides an authorization or a combined authorization and routingresponse to the application server 132. In the illustrated example, thecommunicated authorization may include, for example, a YES responseindicating that the outdial service is authorized, a NO responseindicating that the outdial service is not authorized, or a CC responseindicating that a calling card and/or long distance access number isrequired to authorized the outdial service. If the response is NO, anyreason for rejection, if applicable may also be provided.

FIG. 38 illustrates example logical relationships between differenttypes of outdial unified super-groups (e.g., the outdial unifiedsuper-group 220B of FIG. 2) and unified sub-groups (e.g., the unifiedsub-groups 225A and 225B of FIG. 2). In the illustrated example, typesof outdial unified super-groups that may be implemented in the examplesystem of FIG. 1 include a public outdial unified super-group 4020A, aprivate outdial unified super-group 4020B, and a shared outdial unifiedsuper-group 4020C. VoIP unified super-groups may also be implemented bythe example system of FIG. 1. In the illustrated example, the differenttypes of outdial unified super-groups are provided to serve differenttypes of consumers. For example, the public outdial unified super-group4020A may be provided to serve general consumers (e.g. mass marketconsumers, personal subscriber consumers, residential subscriberconsumers, public consumers, etc.) or enterprise consumers that do nothave access to or need access to the private outdial unified super-group4020B or the shared outdial unified super-group 4020C. The privateoutdial unified super-group 4020B may be owned by and/or serve anenterprise consumer such as, for example, a private enterprise or a VoIPservice provider. The shared outdial unified super-group 4020C may beprovided to serve a plurality of enterprise consumers that collectivelyshare the capacity (e.g., bandwidth capacity) of the shared outdialunified super-group 4020C but desire a guaranteed portion of theunderlying unified super-group 4020C.

As shown in FIG. 38, each of the public outdial unified super-group4020A and the private outdial unified super-group 4020B of the examplesystem of FIG. 1 is associated with a respective unified sub-group 4025Aand 4025B. In contrast, the shared outdial unified super-group 4020C isassociated with a plurality of unified sub-groups 4025C, 4025D, and4025E so that each enterprise consumer or customer that shares a portionof the shared outdial unified super-group 4020C can access the sharedoutdial unified super-group 4020C via its respective one of the unifiedsub-groups 4025C, 4025D, and 4025E. In the example system of FIG. 1, aunified sub-group inherits its type (e.g., public, private, shared,VoIP) from the underlying unified super-group. For instance, the unifiedsub-group 4025B is a private unified sub-group, the unified sub-group4025C is a shared unified sub-group, etc. As described below,authorization and routing rules associated with making or establishingoutdial communication service calls are based on a unified sub-groupcircuit type (e.g., public type, private type, shared and/or VoIP type)and other criteria (e.g., the criteria described above in connectionwith the criteria parser 4004 of FIG. 37) associated with the outdialcommunication service calls.

FIG. 39A illustrates an example public circuit authorization and routingrules table 4200 having authorization and routing rules that are used bythe outdial authorizer 1020 to determine whether to authorize outdialcommunication services and/or to provide related routing rules. Thepublic circuit authorization and routing rules table 4200 is used tocorrelate authorization and routing rules to one or more criteria (e.g.,the criteria described above in connection with the criteria parser 4004of FIG. 37). In the illustrated example, the public circuitauthorization and routing rules table 4200 is stored in the memory 1005(FIGS. 4 and 37) and includes a plurality of entries (i.e., rows), eachhaving a set of criteria and respective authorization and routing rules.In an example implementation, to authorize an outdial communicationservice intended to be made via a public type of outdial unifiedsub-group (e.g., the public unified sub-group 4020A of FIG. 38), theoutdial authorizer 1020 accesses the public circuit authorization androuting rules table 4200 via the authorization and routing rulesinterface 4006 (FIG. 37) to retrieve the authorization and routing rulesfor that particular outdial communication service based on criteriaobtained via the criteria parser 4004 (FIG. 37).

As shown in FIG. 39A, the example public circuit authorization androuting rules table 4200 includes a outdial call type criterion column4202, a subscriber type criterion column 4204, and a distance typecriterion column 4206. The example authorization and routing rulesinterface 4006 (FIG. 37) uses the outdial call type criterion column4202 to retrieve authorization and routing rules based on whether anoutdial communication service is a non-real-time or a real-time service.The example authorization and routing rules interface 4006 uses thesubscriber type criterion column 4204 to retrieve authorization androuting rules based on whether the outdial communication service isassociated with a local subscriber or a remote subscriber. The exampleauthorization and routing rules interface 4006 uses the distance typecriterion column 4206 to retrieve authorization and routing rules basedon whether the outdial communication service is associated with anintra-LATA call (e.g., a local call or a local toll call) or aninter-LATA call (e.g., a long distance call).

The illustrated example public circuit authorization and routing rulestable 4200 includes an authorization rules section 4208 havingauthorization rules associated with regulatory rules and/or laws and/orbusiness rules. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 38, the authorizationrules section 4208 includes a regulatory authorization rules column4210, a business authorization rules column 4212, and a businessexceptions column 4214. The regulatory authorization rules column 4210of the illustrated example indicates whether outdial services areallowed (e.g., an authorization response of YES, NO or CC) based onregulatory rules and/or laws (e.g., Federal laws, rules of the FederalCommunications Commission (FCC), network operator regulatoryrequirements, etc.). The business authorization rules column 4212 of theillustrated example indicates whether outdial services are allowed(e.g., an authorization response of YES, NO or CC) based on businessoperating parameters established by businesses or enterprises leasing orusing the public circuit. In the example system of FIG. 1, the businessauthorization rules column 4212 and the business exceptions column 4214discussed below conform to the regulatory rules and/or laws. The examplesystem of FIG. 1 may optionally include an authorization and routingrules table entry method and/or authorization and routing rules tableverification method that ensure that the business rules and/orexceptions conform to regulatory rules and/or laws. The businessexceptions column 4214 of the illustrated example includes exceptions(e.g., authorization exception rules) to the business authorizationrules indicated in the business authorization rules column 4212. Forexample, if a business authorization rule indicates that a particularoutdial communication service is authorized (i.e., authorizationresponse of YES), the business exceptions column 4214 may be associatedwith particular circumstances to which the general authorization doesnot apply and/or is restricted (e.g., is overridden). In the illustratedexample, the business exceptions column 4208 includes record entryvalues (e.g., #102, #103, #104, etc.) or pointers that reference apublic circuit business exceptions table such as the example table 4300shown in FIG. 40. In this case, the authorization and routing rulesinterface 4006 (FIG. 37) may retrieve exceptions from the public circuitbusiness exceptions table 4300 if the business exceptions column 4214indicates that one or more business exceptions applies to a particularoutdial communication service.

As illustrated in FIG. 40, example business exception for record number101 indicates that special delivery outdial communication services arenot allowed. Other example business exceptions are stored in recordnumber 102, which indicates that reminders are not allowed; recordnumber 103, which indicates that a UC call transfer is not allowed; andrecord number 104, which indicates that a call tree call transfer is notallowed. Of course, any other types of exception may be provided inaddition to, or in place of, the examples described herein. Although theexample business exceptions are shown in a separate table (e.g., thepublic circuit business exceptions table 4300 of FIG. 40), in someexample implementations, the business exceptions may be stored directlyin entries within the business exceptions column 4214. Businessexceptions may also specify additional constraints associated with afeature. For example, the business authorization rules column 4212 mayindicate that all features are authorized for outdial except for onefeature that requires a calling card and/or long distance access number.

As shown in the regulatory and business authorization rules columns 4210and 4212, an outdial communication service may be indicated asauthorized (i.e., YES), not authorized (i.e., NO), or may be authorizedonly if a calling card and/or long distance access number is provided(i.e., CC). Authorization rules indicating YES cause the outdialauthorizer 1020 to return an authorization response of YES,authorization rules indicating NO cause the outdial authorizer 1020 toreturn an authorization response of NO, and authorization rulesindicating CC cause the outdial authorizer 1020 to return a CC requestauthorization response message.

To determine routing rules to be used when selecting, allocating and/orrouting outdial communication services, the illustrated public circuitauthorization and routing rules includes a routing rules section 4216having a regulatory routing rules column 4218 and a business routingrules column 4220. The regulatory routing rules column 4218 indicatesvia which LATAs the outdial communication services may be routed and arebased on regulatory rules and/or laws. The business routing rules column4220 indicates via which LATAs the outdial communication service may berouted and are based on business operating parameters and/or rules. Inthe example system of FIG. 1, the types of LATAs from which an outdialservice may be routed include the subscriber's home (i.e., HOME) LATA,the indial gateway (i.e., INDGWY) LATA, the destination (i.e., DEST)LATA, and the site (i.e., SITE) LATA. The site LATA is the LATA inwhich, for example, the subscriber's mailbox is hosted, that is, theLATA where the message center hosting the subscriber's mailbox isphysically located, and the destination LATA is the LATA to which thedestination telephone number for the outdial communication service isassociated. Each of the business routing rules column entries contain anordered sequence of one or more LATAs from which the processor 1010 mayattempt to select a unified sub-group, allocate resources and/or routethe outdial communication service. The regulatory routing rules reflectthe permissible LATAs from which an outdial call may be routed, but maynot be listed in any specific order. The processor 1010 will process thesequence of LATAs in the order listed in the business routing rulesentry. The routing rules column entries may contain, additionally oralternatively, an entry of, for example, ANY indicating that any LATA orany set of LATAs may be used. As described above, the processor 1010processes the ordered sequence of LATAs determined by the outdialauthorizer while selecting and attempting to allocate resources to aunified sub-group.

FIGS. 39B and 39C illustrate a private circuit authorization and routingrules table 4400 and an example shared circuit authorization and routingrules table 4500, respectively. The structure and the types ofinformation stored in each of the authorization and routing rules tables4400 and 4500 are substantially similar to the structure and types ofinformation described above in connection with the public circuitauthorization and routing rules table 4200 of FIG. 39A. The exampleoutdial authorizer 1020 of the illustrated example accesses the privatecircuit authorization and routing rules table 4400 to obtainauthorization and routing rules for outdial communication serviceauthorization requests intended to be made via private outdial unifiedsub-groups (e.g., the private outdial unified sub-group 4025B of FIG.38). Additionally, the outdial authorizer 1020 of the illustratedexample accesses the shared circuit authorization and routing rulestable 4500 to obtain authorization and routing rules for outdialcommunication service authorization requests intended to be made viashared outdial unified sub-groups (e.g., the shared outdial unifiedsub-groups 4025C-E of FIG. 38). Preferably, a network operator or abusiness may selectively change or modify any of the authorizationrules, routing rules, and/or business exceptions in the tables 4200,4300, 4400, 4500 at any time without affecting or without needing tochange any of the other rules or exceptions previously stored therein.Since, the business authorization and routing rules and/or exceptionspreferably conform to the regulatory authorization and routing rulesand/or laws, a change in the regulatory rules column 4210 and/or theregulatory routing rules column 4218 generally requires a change to oneor more of business rules column 4212, business exceptions column 4214,the business routing rules column 4220 or the business exceptions table4300.

FIG. 41 illustrates an example combined circuit authorization androuting rules table 4700 having authorization and routing rules that areused by the outdial authorizer 1020 to determine whether to authorizeoutdial communication services and/or to determine related routingrules. The combined circuit authorization and routing rules table 4700is used to correlate authorization responses and routing rules to one ormore criteria (e.g., the criteria described above in connection with thecriteria parser 4004 of FIG. 37). In the illustrated example, thecombined circuit authorization and routing rules table 4700 is stored inthe memory 1005 (FIGS. 4 and 37) and includes a plurality of entries(i.e., rows), each having a set of criteria and respective authorizationresponses and routing rules. The example routing rules table 4700illustrates an alternative implementation to the authorization androuting rules tables 4200, 4300, 4400 and 4500. In particular,recognizing that business rules are further refinements of regulatoryrules and/or laws the content of the authorization and routing rulestables 4200, 4300, 4400 and 4500 can be re-arranged and re-indexed toform the combined authorization and routing rules table 4700 illustratedin FIG. 41. It will be readily apparent that other implementations ofauthorization and routing rules table(s) may be utilized. For example,the rows and/or columns may be rearranged and/or the table may beindexed differently. Further, an authorization and routing rules tablemay be implemented as one or more data structures, for example, an arrayof data structures.

As shown in FIG. 41, the example public circuit authorization androuting rules table 4700 includes a circuit type criterion column 4702,a subscriber type criterion column 4704, and a distance type criterioncolumn 4706. The example table 4700 further includes an authorizationresponse section 4708 having a plurality of authorization responsecolumns (e.g., column 4710 and column 4712) associated with each of aplurality of feature types, and a routing rules section 4714 having aplurality of routing rules columns (e.g., column 4716 and column 4718)associated with each of the plurality of feature types.

As discussed above, an authorization request or combined authorizationand routing request received by the policy server 150 containsinformation to allow the policy server 150 to determine, among otherthings, the subscriber type, one or more circuit types (i.e., unifiedsub-group types) that may be used to route the outdial service call, adistance type and a feature type. The policy server 150 in anauthorization request sent to the outdial authorizer 1020 includes,among other things, the subscriber type, a particular one of the one ormore circuit types, the distance type and the feature type. The outdialauthorizer 1020 using any of a variety of techniques uses the providedtypes to determine an authorization response and/or routing rules. Forexample, the outdial authorizer 1020 uses the circuit type (e.g.,PRIVATE), subscriber type (e.g., LOCAL) and distance type (e.g., INTRA)to determine a row 4720 of the authorization and routing rules table4700. Within the determined row 4720, the outdial authorizer 1020 usesthe feature type (e.g., REMINDER) to select one of the plurality ofcolumns (e.g., column 4710) in the authorization response section 4708.The authorization response contained in the table entry located by row4720 and column 4710 (e.g., YES) is the authorization response providedby the outdial authorizer 1020 to the processor 1010. Likewise, therouting rules contained in the table entry located by row 4720 andcolumn 4716 (e.g., DEST, INDGWY, SITE) are returned by the outdialauthorizer 1020 to the processor 1010.

It will be readily apparent to persons of ordinary skill in the art thatauthorization and routing rules tables (e.g., the tables 4200, 4300,4400, 4500 and 4700) can be readily modified and/or extended. Forexample, additional criterion columns can be added (e.g., to accommodatenew circuit types), additional authorization rules can be added (e.g.,to accommodate changes in regulatory rules and/or laws), additionalauthorization responses can be defined, additional routing rules can bedefined (e.g., for new types of LATAs), etc. Further, the authorizationand routing tables could be implemented using one or more of hard-codedlogic, an ASIC, a PLD, a FPLD, discrete logic, hardware, firmware,software, etc.

FIGS. 42 and 43 are flow diagrams representative of example machinereadable instructions that may be executed to implement the exampleoutdial authorizer 1020 of FIGS. 4 and 37. As described above, theoutdial authorizer 1020 determines whether to authorize a requestedoutdial service based on one or more rules stored in authorization androuting rules tables (e.g., the authorization and routing rules tables4200, 4400, and 4500 of FIGS. 39A-C and/or the combined authorizationand routing rules table 4700 of FIG. 41). The machine readableinstructions of FIGS. 42-43 may be executed by a processor, a controllerand/or any other suitable processing device. For example, the machinereadable instructions of FIGS. 42-43 may be embodied in codedinstructions stored on a tangible medium such as a flash memory, or RAMassociated with the processor 8010 shown in the example processorplatform 8000 and discussed below in conjunction with FIG. 87.Alternatively, some or all of the example machine readable instructionsof FIGS. 42-43 and/or the outdial authorizer 1020 may be implementedusing an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmablelogic device (PLD), a field programmable logic device (FPLD), discretelogic, hardware, firmware, etc. Also, some or all of the machinereadable instructions of FIGS. 42-43 and/or the outdial authorizer 1020may be implemented manually or as combinations of any of the foregoingtechniques. Further, although the example machine readable instructionsof FIGS. 42-43 are described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS.42-43, persons of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate thatmany other methods of implementing the outdial authorizer 1020 may beemployed. For example, the order of execution of the blocks may bechanged, and/or some of the blocks described may be changed, eliminated,sub-divided, or combined.

The example machine readable instructions of FIG. 42 begin when, asdescribed above, the authorization request interface 4002 (FIG. 37)receives an authorization request (block 4602) for an outdialcommunication service call from the processor 1010 (FIG. 4). Thecriterion parser 4004 (FIG. 37) then obtains the call criteria from theauthorization request (block 4604). For example, the authorizationrequest interface may communicate the criteria portion of theauthorization request or the authorization request in its entirety tothe criterion parser 4004, and the criterion parser 4004 may extract orotherwise obtain the call criteria (e.g., the call criteria describedabove in connection with FIG. 37) associated with the outdialcommunication service for which the authorization request was generated.

The authorization and routing rules interface 4006 (FIG. 37) thenretrieves the regulatory and business authorization rules from thememory 1005 corresponding to the criteria received from the criterionparser 4004 at block 4604 (block 4606). Specifically, the authorizationand routing rules interface 4006 accesses the appropriate one of theauthorization and routing rules tables 4200, 4400, and 4500 to retrievethe regulatory and business authorization rules and the businessexceptions based on the call criteria. At block 4606, the authorizationand routing rules interface 4006 also retrieves any applicable businessexceptions from a business exceptions table (e.g., the public circuitbusiness exceptions table 4300 of FIG. 40).

The authorization and routing rules analyzer 4008 (FIG. 37) thendetermines if the outdial communication service is unallowable (i.e.,not authorized) based on the regulatory authorization rules (block4608). For example, in the case of a call intended to be made via apublic circuit, if the entry under the regulatory authorization rulescolumn 4210 (FIG. 39A) associated with the call criteria indicates thatthe service is not allowed (e.g., indicates NO), then the authorizationand routing rules analyzer 4008 determines that the outdialcommunication service is not authorized. If the requested outdialservice is not authorized based on regulatory rules and/or laws (block4608), the authorization and request interface 4002 communicates to theprocessor 1010 (FIG. 4) that the requested outdial service is notauthorized (i.e., an authorization response of NO) and indicates anystatus and/or reason for the rejection (block 4624). Control thenproceeds to block 4626 to determine if another authorization requestneeds to be processed.

If the requested outdial communication service is not rejected based onregulatory rules and/or laws (block 4608), the authorization and routingrules analyzer 4008 determines if the outdial service is unallowablebased on the business rules and/or the business exceptions (block 4610).For example, in the case of a call intended to be made via a publicunified sub-group, if the entry under the business authorization rulescolumn 4212 (FIG. 39A) associated with the call criteria indicates thatthe service is not allowed (e.g., indicates NO), then the authorizationand routing rules analyzer 4008 determines that the outdialcommunication service is unallowable (i.e., not authorized). Further,even if the business authorization rules column 4212 associated with thecall criteria indicates that the service is allowed (e.g., indicatesYES), the business exceptions may indicate that the features isunallowable (i.e., not authorized). If the requested outdial service isnot authorized based on business rules and/or business exceptions (block4610), the authorization and request interface 4002 communicates to theprocessor 1010 (FIG. 4) that the requested outdial service is notauthorized (i.e., an authorization response of NO) and indicates anystatus and/or reason for the rejection (block 4624) and control proceedsto block 4626 to determine if another authorization request needs to beprocessed.

If the requested outdial communication service is not rejected based onregulatory rules and/or laws and/or business rules and/or businessexceptions (block 4610), then the authorization and routing rulesanalyzer 4008 determines if either the regulatory rules and/or lawsand/or the business rules and/or business exceptions indicate that acalling card and/or long distance access number is required toauthorized the requested outdial service (block 4612). If a calling cardand/or long distance access number is required (block 4612), theauthorization and request interface 4002 communicates to the processor1010 (FIG. 4) that the requested outdial service can not be authorizedwithout a calling card and/or long distance access number (i.e., anauthorization response of CC) (block 4614) and control proceeds to block4626 to determine if another authorization request needs to beprocessed.

If a calling card and/or long distance access number is not required(i.e., the outdial communication service is, thus, allowed) (block4612), then the authorization and routing rules interface 4006 obtainsthe routing rules (block 4620) from an authorization and routing rulestable (e.g., one of the authorization and routing rules tables 4200,4400, and 4500 of FIGS. 39A-C) and the authorization and requestinterface 4002 communicates to the processor 1010 that the requestedoutdial service was authorized (i.e., an authorization response of YES)and provides the determined routing rules (block 4622) to the processor1010 (FIG. 4). If the outdial authorizer 1020 determines that it shouldreceive another authorization request (block 4626), then control ispassed back to block 4602. Otherwise, the example machine executableinstructions of FIG. 42 are ended and/or control is returned to acalling function or process.

The example machine readable instructions of FIG. 43 begin when, asdescribed above, the authorization request interface 4002 (FIG. 37)receives an authorization request (block 4802) for an outdialcommunication service call from the processor 1010 (FIG. 4). Thecriterion parser 4004 (FIG. 37) then obtains the call criteria from theauthorization request (block 4804). For instance, the authorizationrequest interface may communicate the criteria portion of theauthorization request or the authorization request in its entirety tothe criterion parser 4004, and the criterion parser 4004 may extract orotherwise obtain the call criteria associated with the outdialcommunication service for which the authorization request was generated.In the example machine readable instructions of FIG. 43, the callcriteria are circuit type, subscriber type, distance type and featuretype.

The authorization and routing rules analyzer 4008 then determines therow of the authorization and routing rules table 4700 based upon thecircuit type, the subscriber type and the distance type (block 4806) anddetermines the column of the authorization response section 4708 of thetable 4700 based upon the feature type (block 4808). Using thedetermined row and column, the authorization and routing rules interface4006 reads the authorization response from the table (block 4809).

If the authorization response read from the table is NO (block 4810),the authorization and request interface 4002 communicates to theprocessor 1010 (FIG. 4) that the requested outdial service is notauthorized (i.e., an authorization response of NO) and indicates anystatus and/or reason for the rejection (block 4812) and control proceedsto block 4826 to determine if another authorization request needs to beprocessed.

If the authorization response read from the table is not NONOT (block4810) and is CC (block 4814), the authorization and request interface4002 communicates to the processor 1010 (FIG. 4) that the requestedoutdial service requires a calling card and/or long distance accessnumber to be authorized (i.e., an authorization response of CC) (block4816) and control proceeds to block 4826 to determine if anotherauthorization request needs to be processed.

If the authorization response is neither NOT (block 4810) nor CC (block4814), the requested outdial communication service is authorized. Theauthorization and routing rules analyzer 4008 determines the column ofthe routing rules section 4714 of the table 4700 based upon the featuretype (block 4818). Using the determined row and column, theauthorization and routing rules interface 4006 reads the routing rulesfrom the table (block 4820). The authorization and request interface4002 communicates to the processor 1010 that the requested outdialservice was authorized (i.e., an authorization response of YES) andprovides the determined routing rules (block 4822) to the processor 1010(FIG. 4). If the outdial authorizer 1020 determines that it shouldreceive another authorization request (block 4826), then control ispassed back to block 4802. Otherwise, the example machine executableinstructions of FIG. 43 are ended and/or control is returned to acalling function or process.

If only an authorization for an outdial service request is required(e.g., not a combined authorization and routing request), the examplemachine readable instructions of FIGS. 42 and 43 may be modified, forexample, to not read and/or obtain routing rules and to not returnrouting rules to the processor 1010.

VI. Resource Allocator

As discussed above, the resources of a shared outdial communicationfacility are not guaranteed to be available for allocation to an outdialservice request. Additionally, a service provider may desire that someoutdial communication services (e.g., a live reply outdial communicationservice) have a higher priority or importance than other outdialcommunication services (e.g., a pager notification outdial communicationservice). To address these and other aspects of shared resourceallocation, the resource allocator 1025 of FIG. 4 implements afeature-based (i.e., outdial communication service type based) resourceallocation control protocol to realize a flexible and configurableresource allocation method. The flexible resource allocation methodimplement in the example system of FIG. 1 supports the dedication (i.e.,reserving) of portions of a shared outdial facility to one or morefeatures, and allows an outdial service request to be allocatedresources from non-reserved portions of the shared communicationfacility. For instance, each feature can be guaranteed access to someminimum number of resources of the shared outdial communicationfacility; resource allocations may be made to support a defined amountof over-subscription to enable communication transport efficiencies dueto statistical multiplexing; and resource allocations may also be madethat ensure that a sub-set of features do not keep other features fromhaving access to the shared resources.

FIG. 44 is a schematic illustration of an example manner of implementingthe resource allocator 1025 of FIG. 4. To receive and to respond toallocation requests the example resource allocator 1025 of FIG. 44includes an input/output (I/O) device 5005. In the example of FIG. 44,the I/O device 5005 receives and responds to requests by receiving andtransmitting messages.

To determine whether to allocate a resource of a shared communicationfacility to an outdial communication service in response to a receivedallocation request, the example resource allocator 1025 of FIG. 44includes an allocator 5010. The allocator 5010 uses allocationconstraints (e.g., constraints, rules, criteria, and/or conditions)stored in a rules database 5015 and resource allocation controlvariables (e.g., parameters, states of parameters, variables, data,values, etc.) stored in a control database 5020 to make allocationdecisions. In the illustrated example of FIG. 44, the allocationconstraints stored in the rules database 5015 are one or moreconstraints that affect whether or not an allocation is made. Exampleallocation constraints are discussed below in connection with EQNS. 1-6.In the illustrated example of FIG. 44, allocation control variablesstored in the control database 5020 is implemented as a resourceallocation control table.

To allow an administrator and/or service provider of the example systemof FIG. 4 to modify and/or adjust the resource allocation controlvariables stored in the control database 5020, the example resourceallocator 1025 includes a resource allocator adjuster 5025. The resourceallocator adjuster 5025 may also utilize a clock/calendar 5030 to modifyand/or adjust the resource allocation control variables as a function oftime-of-day or day-of-week.

While throughout the remainder of this disclosure references will bemade to allocating resources of a circuit-based unified sub-groups,persons of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate that themethods and systems described herein are equally applicable topacket-based and/or VoIP unified sub-groups. While with VoIP technologythe number of resources is not strictly limited, as more calls areallocated performance may degrade and lead to an unacceptable voicequality. Thus, resource allocation may be performed to not only to limitthe total number of calls on a packet-based and/or VoIP unifiedsub-group, but also to manage the allocations amongst the outdialfeatures within the specified limit.

FIG. 45 illustrates an example resource allocation control table. In theillustrated example of FIG. 45, each row in the table corresponds to afeature (i.e., outdial communication service type) and contains fourparameters and/or values: (a) F_(i) 5035 is a feature type identifier,(b) C_(i) 5040 is the number of resources (e.g., outdial calls)currently allocated to feature F_(i) 5035, (c) R_(i) 5045 is the numberof resources reserved (i.e., dedicated) for allocation to feature F_(i)5035, and (d) M_(i) 5050 is the maximum number of resources that may beallocated to feature F_(i) 5035. Throughout the remainder of thissection, the subscript j will be used to refer to a specific feature forwhich resource allocation is being currently determined and thesubscript i will be used to refer generically to one feature and/orcollectively to all features.

One or more resource allocation control tables such as that illustratedin FIG. 45 may be created, defined, updated, utilized and/or maintainedfor one or more shared communication facilities, one or more outdialcircuit groups, one or more outdial unified super-groups and/or one ormore unified sub-groups. For example, if the policy server 150 of FIGS.1 and 4 and/or the resource allocator 1025 of FIG. 4 performauthorization and/or resource allocation based on outdial unifiedsuper-groups, then, in the illustrated example, a resource allocationcontrol table will exist and be utilized for each outdial unifiedsuper-group. Likewise, if authorization and/or resource allocations arebased on unified sub-groups, then a control table will exist and beutilized for each unified sub-group. In the example system of FIG. 1, acontrol table is utilized for each unified sub-group. Each unifiedsub-group has an associated maximum capacity T that is the maximumnumber of resources of the unified sub-group that may be allocated toany outdial communication service (i.e., feature).

It will be readily apparent to persons of ordinary skill in the art thatalternative parameters could be used to construct a resource allocationcontrol table. For example, a parameter L_(i) could be used instead ofthe parameter M_(i) 5050, where L_(i) is the maximum number ofnon-reserved shared resources that may be allocated to a feature F_(i)5035 (e.g., such that L_(i)=M_(i) 5050−R_(i) 5045).

FIGS. 46A-F illustrate example unified sub-groups configurations thatillustrate the flexibility of the example resource allocation controltable of FIG. 45. Although not exhaustive, the examples of FIGS. 46A-Fillustrate the diversity of resource allocation configurationsachievable by adjusting the parameters associated with three features A,B and C for a unified sub-group having a total capacity T=20. FIG. 46Aillustrates an example resource allocation configuration that reservesall of the capacity of the unified sub-group with amongst the threefeatures, thus, allocating to each of the features an independentsub-set of the unified sub-group resources. FIG. 46B illustrates anexample resource allocation configuration that contains no reservedcapacity, but allows each of the three features to utilize the entireunified sub-group.

FIG. 46C is an example resource allocation configuration illustratingstatistical multiplexing by not allowing any of the three features toexceed 40% of the total capacity. In the example of FIG. 46C, theunified sub-group is statistically multiplexed and over-subscribed,since all three features cannot simultaneously utilize 40% of the totalcapacity. The example configuration of FIG. 46D is similar to theexample of FIG. 46C except each feature is guaranteed a minimum numberof resources.

FIG. 46E illustrates an example resource allocation configuration whereall the resources of the unified sub-group are reserved for a singlefeature. FIG. 46F illustrates an example resource allocationconfiguration that combines elements of the examples of FIG. 46D andFIG. 46B. In particular, features A and B are each configured withreserve and maximum capacities, and feature C has no reserved capacitybut is allowed to fully utilize all of the non-reserved capacity of theunified sub-group.

In the illustrated examples of FIGS. 1, 4 and 45, the parameters T, Ri5045 and Mi 5050 are provisioned configuration parameters determined byan administrator and/or service provider of the example system of FIG.4. They may be static parameters that do not change, or they may bedynamic or semi-static parameters that change over time (e.g., on apredetermined basis as a function of time-of-day or day-of-week). Forexample, more resources could be reserved for alert outdial servicesbetween 5 am and 8 am to ensure timely delivery of wake-up alerts. Itwill be readily apparent to persons of ordinary skill in the art thatthe state of the parameter Ci 5040 changes as outdial communicationservices are authorized, allocated and/or released. In the illustratedexamples of FIGS. 1, 4 and 44, the example resource allocation controltable of FIG. 45 and the parameter T collectively represent the state ofthe unified sub-group and are stored in the control database 5020.

In the illustrated examples of FIGS. 1 and 4, the allocator 5010allocates one or more resources to an outdial service request (signifiedby subscript j) or rejects the request based upon the current state ofthe unified sub-group stored in the control database 5020 (e.g., thecurrent contents of the example resource allocation control table ofFIG. 45 plus the capacity T) to ensure that the state of the unifiedsub-group remains valid after any allocation of resources (i.e., satisfythe allocation constraints stored in the rules database 5015). In theexample system of FIG. 1, a state of a unified sub-group is valid if itsatisfies four allocation constraints (e.g., constraints, conditions,criteria, and/or rules). First, the sum of all the reserved capacitiesR_(i) 5045 does not exceed the capacity T of the unified sub-group(i.e.,

$\left. {{\sum\limits_{i}\; R_{i}} \leq T} \right).$

Second, for each feature F_(i) 5035 the reserved capacity R_(i) 5045does not exceed the maximum capacity M_(i) 5050, and the maximumcapacity M_(i) 5050 is not so large as to prevent a specific featuresF_(j) 5035 (where j≠i) from simultaneously being able to utilize itsreserved capacity R_(j) 5045 (i.e.,

$\left. {R_{j} \leq M_{j} \leq {T - {\sum\limits_{i \neq j}\; R_{i}}}} \right).$

Third, no feature F_(i) 5035 is allocated more resources than themaximum capacity M_(i) 5050 (i.e., C_(i)≦M_(i)). Fourth, sufficient idlecapacity always must remain to allow all features F_(i) 5035 tosimultaneously utilize their reserved capacity R_(i) 5045 (i.e.,

$\left. {{{{\sum\limits_{i}\; {\max \left( {0,\left( {R_{i} - C_{i}} \right)} \right)}} \leq I},{where}}{I = {T - {\sum\limits_{i}\; C_{i}}}}} \right).$

The first two criteria define a valid configuration as they depend onlyupon the static and/or semi-static unified sub-group configurationparameters T, R_(i) 5045 and M_(i) 5050. In the illustrated example ofFIG. 1, an administrator and/or the service provider of the examplesystem of FIG. 1 is responsible for setting a valid configuration forthe unified sub-group that meets the first two conditions.Alternatively, the resource allocator adjuster 5025 and/or the allocator5010 may reject a configuration or proposed changes to a configurationthat do not satisfy these constraints by, for example, returning anerror message to the administrator and/or the service provider. Thelatter two conditions represent the dynamic state characteristics of theunified sub-group and, thus, may be affected by the resource allocationmethod implemented by the allocator 5010. Preferably, the allocator 5010implements a resource allocation method that, given a currently validstate and/or valid configuration, ensures that the state of the unifiedsub-group remains valid after each resource allocation and/or resourcerelease. That is, if the state of the unified sub-group is currentlyvalid, the allocator 5010 preferably only allocates a resource to arequest if the resulting state would remain valid.

It will be readily apparent to persons of ordinary skill in the art thatthe state of a unified sub-group may become invalid if the configurationof the unified sub-group is modified by the resource allocator adjuster5025 in response to an administrator and/or a time-of-day or day-of-weekchange. For instance, if five resources are allocated to a feature Fj5035 (i.e., Cj=5) before a configuration change that modifies themaximum Mj 5050 to be less than 5, then the state of the unifiedsub-group becomes invalid due to the configuration change. Thus, it isdesirable that the resource allocation method implemented by theresource allocator 1025 be capable, over time, to ensure that the stateof the unified sub-group returns to a valid state. For example, theallocator 5010 will not allocate any more resources to a feature Fj 5035until the current number Cj 5040 is less than or equal to Mj 5050.

An example resource allocation method allocates a resource to a specificoutdial service request (signified by subscript j) if the current numberof resources allocated to a feature Cj 5040 is less than the maximumthat may be allocated Mj 5050, and if the number of additional resourcesrequired to allow all features to simultaneously utilize their reservedcapacity is less than the current amount of idle capacity. The number ofadditional resources required to allow all features F_(i) 5035 tosimultaneously utilize their reserved capacity R_(i) 5045 may beexpressed mathematically as shown in EQN. 1, and the current idlecapacity I may be expressed mathematically as shown in EQN. 2.

$\begin{matrix}{{Unused\_ Reserve} = {\sum\limits_{i \neq j}\; {\max \left\lbrack {0,\left( {R_{i} - C_{i}} \right)} \right\rbrack}}} & \left( {{EQN}.\mspace{14mu} 1} \right) \\{I = {T - {\sum\limits_{i}\; C_{i}}}} & \left( {{EQN}.\mspace{14mu} 2} \right)\end{matrix}$

The example resource allocation method may be mathematically expressedas shown in EQN. 3.

IF Cj < Mj AND Unused_Reserved < I THEN Allocate a resource to theoutdial service request (EQN. 3) ELSE Reject the outdial service requestEND

It will be readily apparent to persons of ordinary skill in the art thatother resource allocation methods may be implemented. For example, analternative resource allocation method may be mathematically expressedas shown in EQN. 4.

IF Cj ≧ Mj THEN Reject the outdial service request ELSE IF Cj ≧ Rj ANDUnused_Reserved ≧ I THEN Reject the outdial service request (EQN. 4)ELSE Allocate a resource to the outdial service request END END

As described above, each feature Fj 5035 requires one resource unit peroutdial service request. It will be readily apparent to persons ofordinary skill in the art that the example resource allocation methodscould be easily extended to handle a different and/or variable number ofresources per service request. For example, each feature Fj 5035 couldhave a pre-determined associated number of required resources perrequest. Alternatively, an allocation request message received by theresource allocator 1205 could specify a number of requested resources.

As also discussed above, the configuration of a unified sub-group couldbe adjusted on, for example, a time-of-day or day-of-week basis. In theillustrated example of 4, the current state of the unified sub-group maybecome invalid as a result of a resource allocation configurationchange, but not as a result of the actions of the allocator 5010. Theexample resource allocation methods described and expressed above may bemodified such that, over time, the allocator 5010 causes the state ofthe unified sub-group returns to a valid state. For example, theresource allocation methods may be modified to reject outdial servicerequests until the state is valid unless allocating a resource to therequest would not affect the validity of the state. In particular, ametric F that represents how far the current state is from being validmay be computed using the mathematical expression of EQN. 5, where thevalues of R, are the new configured values. A valid state has a metric Fthat is greater than or equal to zero and, thus, a metric F that is lessthan zero can be used to detect an invalid state.

$\begin{matrix}{F = {I - {\sum\limits_{i}\; {\max \left\lbrack {0,\left( {R_{i} - C_{i}} \right)} \right\rbrack}}}} & \left( {{EQN}.\mspace{14mu} 5} \right)\end{matrix}$

An alternative example resource allocation method that handles and/orrecovers, over time, from a current invalid state may be mathematicallyexpressed as shown in EQN. 6.

IF F < 0 and Cj ≧ Rj THEN Reject the outdial service request ELSE IF Cj≧ Mj (EQN. 6) THEN Reject the outdial service request ELSE  IF Cj ≧ RjAND Unused_Reserved ≧ I  THEN Reject the outdial service request  ELSEAllocate a resource to the outdial service  request  END END END

FIGS. 47 and 48 are flowcharts representative of example machinereadable instructions that may be executed by a processor (e.g., theprocessor 8010 of FIG. 87) to implement the example resource allocator1025 of FIG. 4, the example allocator 5050 of FIG. 44 and/or the exampleresource allocations methods expressed in EQNS 1-6. The machine readableinstructions of FIGS. 47 and 48 may be executed by a processor, acontroller and/or any other suitable processing device. For example, themachine readable instructions of FIGS. 47 and 48 may be embodied incoded instructions stored on a tangible medium such as a flash memory,or RAM associated with the processor 8010 shown in the example processorplatform 8000 and discussed below in conjunction with FIG. 87.Alternatively, some or all of the example machine readable instructionsof FIGS. 47 and 48, the allocator 5010, the rules database 5015, thecontrol database 5020, the resource allocator adjuster 5025, and/or,more generally, the resource allocator 1025 may be implemented using anapplication specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable logicdevice (PLD), a field programmable logic device (FPLD), discrete logic,hardware, etc. Additionally, some or all of the example machine readableinstructions of FIGS. 47 and 48, the allocator 5010, the rules database5015, the control database 5020, the resource allocator adjuster 5025,and/or, more generally, the resource allocator 1025 may be implementedusing software, firmware, hardware, and/or a combination of hardware andsoftware and/or firmware. Also, some or all of the machine readableinstructions of FIGS. 47 and 48, the allocator 5010, the rules database5015, the control database 5020, the resource allocator adjuster 5025,and/or, more generally, the resource allocator 1025 may be implementedmanually or as combinations of any of the foregoing techniques. Further,although the example machine readable instructions of FIGS. 47 and 48are described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 47 and 48,persons of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate that manyother methods of implementing the policy server 150 may be employed. Forexample, the order of execution of the blocks may be changed, and/orsome of the blocks described may be changed, eliminated, sub-divided, orcombined.

The example machine readable instructions of FIG. 47 begin with theresource allocator 1025 waiting to receive an allocation request fromthe processor 1010 (block 5105). Persons of ordinary skill in the artwill appreciated that allocation requests may be queued and processedsequentially and/or processed in parallel by, for example, separateprocessing threads. If an allocation request is not received (block5105), the resource allocator 1025 continues waiting (block 5105).

If an allocation request is received (block 5105), the resourceallocator 1025 loads the resource allocation control table for theunified sub-group specified in the allocation request (if not alreadyavailable in memory) and reads the row of the table corresponding to therequested outdial communication service type Fj 5035 (block 5110). Theresource allocator 1025 then computes the idle capacity I of the unifiedsub-group by, for example, using the mathematical expression of EQN. 2(block 5115) and computes the unused reserved capacity by, for example,using the mathematical expression of EQN. 1 (block 5120).

If the current number of resources allocated to the requested outdialcommunication service type (i.e., feature) Cj 5040 is less than themaximum Mj 5050 that may be allocated to the feature Fj 5035 (block5125), the resource allocator 1025 determines if the current number ofresources allocated to the requested outdial communication service type(i.e., feature) Cj 5040 is greater than the number of reserved resourcesRj 5045 (block 5130). If the current number of resources allocated tothe requested outdial communication service type (i.e., feature) Cj 5040is greater than or equal to the number of reserved resources Rj 5045(block 5130), the resource allocator 1025 determines if the unusedreserved capacity is less than the idle capacity I (block 5135).

If the unused reserved capacity is less than the idle capacity I (block5135), the resource allocator 1025 allocates a resource to the requestedoutdial service request and sends a response to the processor 1010(block 5140), updates the current number of resources allocated to therequested outdial communication service type (i.e., feature) Cj 5040stored in the table (block 5145) and control returns to block 5105 toawait another allocation request.

If the unused reserved capacity is not less than the idle capacity I(block 5135), the resource allocator 1025 rejects the resourceallocation request and sends a response indicating the same to theprocessor (block 5150) and control returns to block 5105 to awaitanother allocation request.

Returning to block 5130, if the current number of resources allocated tothe requested outdial communication service type (i.e., feature) Cj 5040is less than the number of reserved resources Rj 5045, the resourceallocator 1025 allocates a resource to the requested outdial servicerequest and sends a response to the processor 1010 (block 5140), updatesthe current number of resources allocated to the requested outdialcommunication service type (i.e., feature) Cj 5040 stored in the table(block 5145) and control returns to block 5105 to await anotherallocation request.

Returning to block 5125, the current number of resources allocated tothe requested outdial communication service type (i.e., feature) Cj 5040is not less than the maximum Mj 5050 that may be allocated to thefeature, the resource allocator 1025 rejects the resource allocationrequest and sends a response indicating the same to the processor (block5150) and control returns to block 5105 to await another allocationrequest.

The example resource allocation method illustrated in the examplemachine readable instructions of FIG. 48 includes the ability to handlerecovery from an invalid unified sub-group state. The example machinereadable instructions of FIG. 48 proceed similarly to the examplemachine readable instructions of FIG. 47 and, thus, discussion ofportions similar to the example of FIG. 47 will not be repeated here.Instead, the interested reader is referred back to the correspondingdescription of FIG. 47. To facilitate this process, like operations havebeen numbered with like reference numerals.

The example machine readable instructions of FIG. 48 proceed similarlyto the example machine readable instructions of FIG. 47 through block5115. The resource allocator 1025 computes the unused reserved capacityby, for example, using the mathematical expression of EQN. 1 and themetric F by, for example, using the mathematical expression of EQN. 5(block 5120). If the metric F is less than zero and the current numberof resources allocated to the requested outdial communication servicetype (i.e., feature) Cj 5040 is not less than the number of reservedresources Rj 5045 (block 5123), the resource allocator 1025 rejects theresource allocation request and sends a response indicating the same tothe processor (block 5150) and control returns to block 5105 to awaitanother allocation request. Otherwise, control proceeds to block 5125and the example machine executable instructions of FIG. 48 continueproceeding as described in connection with the example machineexecutable instructions of FIG. 47.

VII. Call Transfers

FIG. 49 is a schematic illustration of a portion of the example systemof FIG. 1 including multiple application servers 132. The example systemof FIG. 49 includes a communication facility 6002, a gateway 120A, agatekeeper 135, (although gateway 120A and gatekeeper 135 are discussedin the following examples, persons of ordinary skill in the art willreadily appreciate that the following description could alternatively oradditionally apply to any gateway and/or gatekeeper including, forexample, the gateway 120B) and application servers 132 (referenced as acall tree media server 6008 and a messaging application server 6010). Asdiscussed above in Sections I, II and V, the authorization and/orrouting of outdial communication service calls (i.e., outdial calls)depends upon regulatory rules and/or laws, and/or upon businessrequirements that, in turn, depend upon, for example, a subscriber LATAand an indial gateway LATA. Example parameters in determining asubscriber LATA and/or an indial gateway LATA include an access numberby which an indial call enters a messaging platform (e.g., a messagingplatform comprised of the gateway 120A, the gatekeeper 135, the messagecenter 130, the policy server 150 and the operations database 160)and/or a mailbox number associated with a subscriber.

The example system of FIG. 49 is capable, among other things, oftransferring an indial communication service call (i.e., an indial call)from one of the application servers 6008, 6010 to another one of theapplication servers 6008, 6010. In the illustrated example, the indialcall transfer is completed such that, among other information,information pertinent to authorizing and/or routing an outdial callassociated with the original indial call (i.e., access information) iscarried over from the application server initiating the transfer (i.e.,the originating or first application server) to the application serverreceiving the transferred indial call (i.e., the destination or secondapplication server). In the example systems of FIG. 49 and/or FIG. 1,the access information may include parameters that represent or specifyan indial gateway LATA, Mailbox number (MBN) and/or a subscriber LATA,or from which an indial gateway LATA, MBN and/or a subscriber LATA canbe determined (e.g., an access number, etc.). Further, the examplesystem of FIG. 49 is such that the resulting call setup utilized tocomplete the call transfer is similar to a call setup utilized toestablish an indial call that was received directly from an accessnetwork (e.g., to a call setup for a call that was not transferred). Asa result, the destination application server may require no modificationto accept and/or to receive the transferred call transfer. This featureis desirable in situations where modification of an application serveris expensive, time-intensive, and/or not possible.

By conveying access information from the first application server to thesecond application server as part of the call transfer, the secondapplication server is able to provide accurate and/or complete accessinformation to the policy server 150 such that the policy server 150 cancorrectly authorize and/or route an outdial communication serviceinitiated by the second application server.

The example communication facility 6002 of FIG. 49 may be the same orsubstantially similar to the circuit-based communication facility 145Aand/or the packet-based communication facility 147. The examplecommunication facility 6002 is capable of connecting access networkswith the gateway 120A. In particular, the example communication facility6002 is capable of transmitting an indial call to the gateway 120A. Theindial call may be received from a PSTN, from another VoIP network, orfrom any other network capable of handling calls.

An indial call entering a messaging platform via the communicationfacility 6002 may be accompanied by one or more parameters. An exampleset of parameters is

-   -   Calling Party: <initiating phone number>,    -   Called Party: <phone number to route to> and    -   Redirecting Number: <phone number that caused redirection>.        In the illustrated example, indial calls entering via the        communication facility 6002 include a phone number where the        call was initiated (calling party), a phone number where the        call is currently to be routed (called party), and a phone        number from which the call was last redirected (redirecting        number). For instance, in an example scenario, a call may be        made from a first phone number (i.e., a calling number) to a        second phone number (i.e., a subscriber's telephone number or        mailbox number) and then redirected to a third phone number        corresponding to a voice message box. At the time that the call        reaches the communication facility 6002, the calling party field        of the call setup stores the first phone number, the called        party field of the call setup stores the third phone number, and        the redirecting number field of the call setup stores the second        phone number. The third phone number (i.e., called party number)        may be a CFN, a CTAN, a toll-free access number, or any other        number associated with an application server. In the example        systems of FIGS. 1 and/or 49, the called number is the access        number by which the indial call enters a messaging platform and        represents some or all of the access information necessary to        authorize and/or route the indial call and any associated        outdial call.

The indial call may include a limited set of the parameters and/or mayinclude other parameters not described here. Although not exhaustive, anindial call directed to a messaging application server 6010 may take onany of the following example forms:

-   -   A) A third party calls a subscribers mailbox (i.e., subscriber's        telephone number):        -   Calling Party: Phone Number from which third party calls        -   Called Party: CFN (call forwarding number associated with            the subscriber's mailbox)        -   Redirecting Number: MBN (subscriber's mailbox number)    -   B) A subscriber calls their CFN from their own phone:        -   Calling Party: MBN        -   Called Party: CFN        -   Redirecting Number: <none>    -   C) A subscriber calls their own MBN from their own phone:        -   Calling Party: MBN        -   Called Party: CFN or Toll Free Number        -   Redirecting Number: MBN    -   D) A subscriber calls their CFN from another phone:        -   Calling Party: Other Number        -   Called Party: CFN        -   Redirecting Number: <none>            In the cases where the MBN is not provided as part of the            indial call (i.e., it is not in one of the indial call            parameters, for example, see example D above), the messaging            application server 6010 requests the MBN from the caller or            subscriber in order to create a full context for the indial            call. For example, the messaging application server 6010 may            use an interactive voice response (IVR) system to prompt a            caller to provide an MBN by speaking the MBN or entering the            MBN using a touchtone keypad of an electronic communication            device. It will be readily apparent that similar indial            usage scenarios can be considered for the access of a call            tree application server 6008. For instance, in example D the            CFN could be replaced by a CTAN, or in example A the CFN            could be replaced by a CTAN and the MBN replaced by a call            tree subscriber number.

It will be readily apparent that some devices and/or communicationprotocols utilized in a communication system may include limitationsthat do not allow some or all of these parameters to be used. Forexample, the ITU H.323 standard includes the supplementary call transferservice protocol ITU H.450-2 to initiate a call transfer, but the ITUH.450-2 protocol does not support a redirecting number parameter. Asexplained in detail below, modifications are made to, for instance, thegateways 120A, 120B, and/or the application servers to enable accessinformation (e.g., an access number) to be communicated in a calltransfer request and/or process, for example, in a request made pursuantto the H.450-2 protocol.

The example gateway 120A may be any gateway device including, forexample, a gateway device made by Cisco Systems, Inc. The gateway 120Aof the illustrated example interworks between the communication facility6002 and the call tree media server 6008 and/or the messagingapplication server 6010 as described above. The gateway 120A of theillustrated example is also capable, as described above, of associatinga dial peer with an indial call based on one or more parametersassociated with the call (e.g., an access number). As previouslydescribed, each dial peer is also associated with an application servertype and a specific message center. To determine to where an indial callshould be routed (i.e., to an application server type at a specificmessage center), a dial peer associates the dial peer's provisionedtechnology prefix (e.g., 5#, 8#, etc.) with an indial call that containsan access number associated with the dial peer. In the illustratedexamples of FIG. 1 and/or 49, an ARQ message sent by the gateway 120A tothe gatekeeper 135 contains a called party number comprising thetechnology prefix pre-pended to (e.g., concatenated to the front of) theaccess number. Of course, persons of ordinary skill in the art willrecognize that many variations in the technology prefix syntax (e.g.,they may be implemented as suffixes instead of prefixes) and/or in thenumber of and/or association of dial peers is possible. In addition, theassociation of technology prefixes may be accomplished using any othermethod of determining the features required for a particular indialcall.

The gateway 120A of the illustrated example is capable of receiving arequest to transfer a call from one of the application servers 6008,6010 to another one of the application servers 6008, 6010. The requestto transfer the call may be made using, for example, the H.450-2protocol and/or any of a variety of call transfer protocols and/or calltransfer processes appropriate to, for example, an H.323 or SIP basedVoIP network 125 (FIG. 1). In the interest of brevity and for ease ofdiscussion, throughout the remainder of this patent reference will bemade to the H.450-2 protocol and/or to transferring an indial call fromthe call tree media application server 6008 to the messaging applicationserver 6010. However, persons of ordinary skill in the art will readilyappreciate that the methods and systems described herein are equallyapplicable to call transfers using other call transfer protocols and/orprocesses, and/or to call transfers between other types of devicesand/or application servers 132.

As mentioned above, the redirecting number parameter is not supported byan H.450-2 transfer request. Therefore, in the illustrated example, acall transfer request includes the value of the original called partynumber (i.e., the access number) of the original indial call in thecalled party field of the call transfer request. For instance, in theillustrated example the parameters for a call transfer request may be

-   -   Calling Party: <Original Calling Party Number> and    -   Called Party: <MBN>#TP1<Original Called Party Number>.        When such a request is received by the gateway 120A, the gateway        120A of the illustrated example will parse the called party        field of the call transfer request using, for example, a tool        command language (Tcl) script to obtain from the request one or        more of the individual elements (e.g., the MBN, the technology        prefix, the original called party, etc.). Of course, the gateway        120A may implement any other method for parsing the request        parameters and may utilize any programming language to parse the        parameters such as, for example, C, C++, C#, Java, Visual Basic,        COBOL, Python, PERL, Bourne-Again Shell (BASH), etc.

As described above, the gatekeeper 135 of the illustrated examples ofFIG. 1 and/or 49 is responsible for admitting indial and/or transferredcalls received at a gateway. In the illustrated example, the gateway120A sends an ARQ message for an indial call and/or a call transfer andpasses the parameter(s) associated with the indial call and/or the calltransfer to the gatekeeper 135. The admittance and setup of indial callswere fully discussed above in Sections I and II and in connection withFIGS. 5-8 and, in the interest of brevity, will not be further discussedhere. For a call transfer, the gateway 120A sends an ARQ message thatincludes, among other things, a called party number comprising thetechnology prefix concatenated with the original called party (i.e., theaccess number for the original indial call) and a redirecting numbercomprising the MBN. When the gatekeeper 135 receives the ARQ, itselects, as discussed above, an appropriate destination applicationserver for the call transfer based on the technology prefix and returnsthe IP address of the identified destination server to the gateway 135.

The example system of FIG. 49 includes the example call tree mediaserver 6008 and the example messaging application server 6010. Theexample call tree media server 6008 of FIG. 49 is capable of, forexample, providing call tree services to indial calls received from thegateway 120A. Example implementations of the call tree media server 6008include call tree media servers made by Converse, Inc.

The example messaging application server 6010 of FIG. 49 is capable of,for example, providing voice messaging services to indial calls receivedfrom the gateway 120A. An example message application server is the UOneServer from LogicaCMG plc. Persons of ordinary skill in the art willrecognize that the illustration of the call tree media server 6008and/or the messaging application server 6010 are examples and any numberor variety of application servers provisioning any number of features orservices may be provided in a system.

The call tree services of the call tree media server 6008 include theoption to transfer an indial call to messaging services provided by, forexample, the messaging application server 6010. To this end, the calltree media server 6008 is capable of determining a MBN associated withthe call transfer. For example, the call tree media server 6008 mayinclude or use an IVR system to prompt a caller to provide a MBN byspeaking the MBN or by entering the MBN. Alternatively, a MBN may beassociated with one or more branches or terminating points of a calltree. For example, the call tree application may determine via a userinput or selection that the caller wishes to leave a message for atechnical support team, the call tree application may then use apre-determined MBN for the technical support team as stored in the calltree description and/or definition.

In the example system of FIGS. 1 and/or 49, the call tree media server6008 is capable of accessing a directory service to determine thetechnology prefix associated with a messaging application server at themessaging center serving the determined MBN. In the illustrated example,the directory service is an email routing table (ERT). However, anyother directory capable of associating an identifier (e.g., a technologyprefix) with a subscriber (e.g., a MBN) may alternatively be used. Inresponse to a request from the call tree media server 6008, the ERT ofthe illustrated example returns a technology prefix associated with amailbox number. An example method of transferring a call will bedescribed in detail in conjunction with FIGS. 54A, 54B and 54C.

FIG. 50 is a block diagram of an example implementation of a portion ofthe gateway 120A of FIG. 49. Persons of ordinary skill in the art willappreciate that the block diagram of FIG. 50 illustrates a portion ofthe gateway 120A that implements some or all of the control and/orsignaling within the gateway 120A and/or between the gateway 120A andother elements of the example system of FIGS. 1 and/or 49. Forsimplicity of illustration, other portions of the gateway 120A which arenot pertinent to this discussion are not included in the diagram.

The example gateway 120A of FIG. 50 includes, among other things, aninterface 6102, a parameter extractor, 6104, a dial peer selector 6106,a database 6108, and a prefix embeddor 6110. The interface 6102 iscapable of providing communication between the gateway 120A and otherconnected devices. For example, the interface 6102 enables communicationbetween the gateway 120A and the communication facility 6002, thegatekeeper 135, the call tree media server 6008, and/or the messagingapplication server 6010 of FIGS. 1 and/or 49. The interface mayimplement any method of providing communication between devices such as,for example, a wired network connection, a wireless network connection,a connection to a PSTN, connection to an access VoIP network, connectionto a platform VoIP network, etc. In the example system of FIG. 1, thedatabase 6108 includes, among other things, configuration parameters forthe gateway 120A as described in Section III and in connection withFIGS. 10-11 and 18A-C.

The example parameter extractor 6104 extracts data from the parametersassociated with an indial call and/or a call transfer request receivedvia the interface 6102. For example, the example parameter extractor6104 is capable of retrieving the calling phone number, the called phonenumber, and the redirecting phone number from the parameters associatedwith an indial call. The example parameter extractor 6104 isadditionally capable of extracting parameters from a call transferrequest received from an application server 132 such as, for example,the call tree media server 6008. For example, when the example parameterextractor 6104 receives a call transfer request from the call tree mediaserver 6008, the called party parameter associated with the callincludes a combination of the MBN, the technology prefix, and theoriginal called number (e.g., the original access number). The parameterextractor 6104 utilizes a Tcl script to extract the individualparameters associated with the call transfer request. As previouslydescribed, the parameter extractor 6104 may utilize any otherprogramming language to parse the parameters such as, for example, C,C++, C#, Java, Visual Basic, COBOL, Python, PERL, BASH, etc. The exampleparameter extractor 6104 passes extracted parameters to the dial peerselector 6106 and the prefix embeddor 6110.

The dial peer selector 6106 is capable of selecting a dial peerassociated with an indial call. For example, as described above, thedial peer selector 6106 can match the access number extracted by theparameter extractor 6104 with patterns of access numbers supported byone or more dial peers. The dial peer selector 6106 is additionally oralternatively capable of selecting a dial peer based on the technologyprefix determined from a call transfer request by the parameterextractor 6104. The example dial peer selector 6106 receives parametersfrom the parameter extractor 6104 and queries the database 6108 tolocate a dial peer to associate (i.e., match) with the call. Forexample, the example dial peer selector 6106 may query the database 6108with the called party number parameter and/or technology prefix toperform a pattern match of the called party parameter and/or technologyprefix against one or more parameters stored in the database 6108. Thedatabase 6108 may be any database and/or table capable of associatingcall parameters and/or technology prefixes with a dial peer.Alternatively, each dial peer (not shown) of the example gateway 120A ofFIG. 50 is capable to perform pattern matching against each incomingindial call and automatically activates for an indial calling having anaccess number falling within a range of called party numbers provisionedfor the dial peer.

The example prefix embeddor 6110 is capable of receiving parametersincluding a technology prefix from either or both of the parameterextractor 6104 and the dial peer selector 6106 and associating theparameters with an indial call and/or a call transfer. The exampleprefix embeddor 6110 combines the technology prefix with the calledphone number to form the called party field. For instance, for a calltransfer request, the technology prefix is the technology prefixreceived in the call transfer request and the called phone number is theoriginal called party number also received in the call transfer request.For example, the prefix embeddor 6110 may insert the technology prefixbefore the value for the called party number in the called party field.The prefix embeddor 6110 passes the parameters associated with the callto the interface for incorporation into a message and/or transmission toanother device such as, for example, the communication facilities 6002,the gatekeeper 135, and/or the application servers 132.

FIG. 51 is a block diagram of an example implementation of a portion ofthe gatekeeper 135 of FIG. 49. Persons of ordinary skill in the art willappreciate that the block diagram of FIG. 50 illustrates a portion ofthe gatekeeper 135 that implements some or all of the control and/orsignaling within the gatekeeper 135 and/or between the gatekeeper 135and other elements of the example system of FIGS. 1 and/or 49. Forsimplicity of illustration, other portions of the gatekeeper 135 whichare not pertinent to this discussion are not included in the diagram.

The gatekeeper 135 includes an interface 6302, a prefix extractor 6304,a server selector 6306, a database 6308, and a message generation 6310.The interface 6302 is capable of providing communication between thegatekeeper 135 and other connected devices. For example, the interface6302 enables communication between the gatekeeper 135 and the gateway120A, the call tree media server 6008, and/or the messaging applicationserver 6010 of FIG. 49. The interface may implement any method ofproviding communication between devices such as, for example, a wirednetwork connection, a wireless network connection, a connection to aPSTN, a connection to a platform VoIP network, etc.

The example prefix extractor 6304 is capable of receiving an ARQ messageand extracting parameters associated with the ARQ message. For example,the example prefix extractor extracts a technology prefix embedded inthe called party field. The prefix extractor 6304 then passes theextracted parameters to the application server selector 6306.

The server selector 6306 receives parameters associated with an ARQmessage from the prefix extractor 6304 and queries the database 6308 todetermine an address of an application server (e.g., an IP address). Theselection of an application server is discussed above in Sections I andII and, in the interest of brevity, will not be discussed further here.The server selector 6306 passes the ARQ message and the applicationserver address to the message generation module 6310.

The example message generation module 6310 receives an ARQ message andits associated parameters and generates an ACF message to confirm theARQ message and to provide the IP address of the selected applicationserver. The message generation module 6310 transmits that ACF message tothe interface 6302 for communication. For example, if the gateway 120Atransmits an ARQ message to the gatekeeper 135, the interface 6302returns the ACF message including a selected server address to thegateway 120A.

It will be readily apparent to persons of ordinary skill in the art thatcall transfers that preserve access information as described above maybe implemented without modification of the gatekeeper 135.

FIG. 52 is a block diagram of an example implementation of the call treemedia server 6008 of FIG. 49. Persons of ordinary skill in the art willappreciate that the block diagram of FIG. 52 illustrates a portion ofthe call tree media server 6008. For simplicity of illustration, otherportions of the call tree media server 6008 which are not pertinent tothis discussion are not included in the diagram. In the example systemsof FIGS. 1 and/or 49, a call tree application is comprised of a calltree media server (e.g., the call tree media server 6008 of FIG. 52) andan application server. A call tree and/or a call tree media server 6008may be implemented using any of a variety of additional and/oralternative methods and/or techniques. The example call tree mediaserver 6008 includes an interface 6402, a transferor 6404, an ERT 6406,a message generator 6408, and an IVR unit 6410. The IVR unit 6410provides audible menu choices and responds to responses entered, forexample, by a touch tone keypad of an electronic communication device toenable a calling party to select services or provided by a user speakingresponses.

The interface 6402 is capable of providing communication between thecall tree media server 6008 and other connected devices. For example,the interface 6008 enables communication between the call tree mediaserver 6008 and the gateway 120A and/or the gatekeeper 135 of FIG. 49.The interface 6402 may implement any method of providing communicationbetween devices such as, for example, a wired network connection, awireless network connection, a connection to a PSTN, a platform VoIPnetwork, etc.

The example transferor 6404 is capable of receiving an instruction totransfer an indial call from the interactive voice response unit 6410(i.e., the call tree media server 6008) to another application serversuch as the messaging application server 6010. In response to the calltransfer instruction, the example transferor 6404 determines asdescribed above, a MBN to which the indial call will be transferred. Theexample transferor 6404 then queries the ERT 6406 with the destinationof the call transfer request (i.e., the MBN) to determine a technologyprefix associated with the MBN. The ERT 6406, among other things,associates call transfer destinations with technology prefixes.

The example message generator 6408 receives the MBN and the technologyprefix associated with the call transfer request and generates a messageto request a call transfer. The example message generator 6408 formatsthe request according to the H.450-2 protocol. However, the messagegenerator 6408 may alternatively utilize any other message formatcapable of requesting a call transfer. The example message generator6408 concatenates and/or inserts the MBN, the technology prefix and theoriginal called party number (i.e., original access number) in thecalled party parameter field of the call transfer request. However,persons of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that any othermethod of associating the parameters (e.g., the MBN, the technologyprefix and the original called party number) with the call transferrequest may alternatively be used. The example message generator 6408passes the call transfer request message to the interface 6402 fortransmission to the gateway 120A or to any other location capable ofhandling a call transfer request.

FIG. 53 is a flowchart representative of example machine readableinstructions that may be executed to handle an indial call to the calltree media server 6008 of FIG. 49. In this example, the machine readableinstructions comprise a program for execution by a processor such as theprocessor 8010 shown in the example computer 8000 discussed below inconnection with FIG. 87. The program may be embodied in software storedon a tangible medium such as a CD-ROM, a floppy disk, a hard drive, adigital versatile disk (DVD), or a memory associated with the processor8010, but persons of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciatethat the entire program and/or parts thereof could alternatively beexecuted by a device other than the processor 8010 and/or embodied infirmware or dedicated hardware in a well known manner. For example, anyor all of the interfaces 6102, 6302, 6402, parameter extractor 6104,dial peer selector 6106, prefix embeddor 6110, prefix extractor 6304,server selector 6306, message generation module 6310, transferor 6404,message generator 6408 and/or the interactive voice response unit 6410could be implemented by software, hardware, and/or firmware. Further,although the example program is described with reference to theflowchart illustrated in FIG. 53, persons of ordinary skill in the artwill readily appreciate that many other methods of implementing theexample gateway 120A, the example gatekeeper 135, the example call treemedia server 6008 and/or the example message application server 6010 mayalternatively be used. For example, the order of execution of the blocksmay be changed, and/or some of the blocks described may be changed,eliminated, or combined.

The machine executable instructions of FIG. 53 are executed when anindial call is received via, for example, the communication facility6002 at the gateway 120A (block 6202). For example, an indial call maybe received by the interface 6302 of the example gateway 120A with thefollowing parameters

-   -   Calling Party: 555-999-1111,    -   Called Party: 555-999-2222, and    -   Redirecting Party: None,        where 555-999-1111 is the phone number of the party that        initiated the indial call, 555-999-2222 is a CTAN, and the        redirection party was not used. This may occur, for example,        when a person calls a call tree directly and, thus, will be        routed to a call tree application server without a redirecting        number.

Upon receiving the indial call (block 6202), the dial peer selector 6106associates the call with a dial peer based on the parameters receivedwith the call (e.g., the access number 555-999-2222) (block 6204). Thedial peer selector 6106 then determines the technology prefix for theindial call based on the technology prefix provisioned to the dial peer(block 6206). The prefix embeddor 6104 receives the technology prefixfrom the dial peer selector 6106 and then, as described above, combinesthe technology prefix with the called party parameter (block 6208). Forexample, the technology prefix may be inserted in the called partyparameter prior to the value for the called party (e.g.,1#555-999-2222). However, persons of ordinary skill in the art willrecognize that any other method of embedding the technology prefix inthe parameters may alternatively be used.

After the technology prefix has been combined with the called partyparameter, the gateway 120A sends an ARQ message to the gatekeeper 135using the updated parameters associated with the call (block 6210). Theinterface 6402 of the gatekeeper 135 receives the ARQ. The prefixextractor 6304 retrieves the technology prefix from the ARQ message. Theserver selector 6306 then selects an application server at a specificmessage center that is associated with the technology prefix (block6212). After selecting the appropriate application server 132 (e.g., thecall tree media server 6008), the message generation 6310 generates anACF message including the address of the selected application server 132(e.g., the call tree media server 6008). The interface 6302 thentransmits the ACF message to the gateway 120A (block 6214). The addressmay be any type of address format capable of specifying the location ofan application server such as an IP address, hardware address, etc.

After receiving the ACF message with the address of the appropriateapplication server 132 (e.g., the call tree media server 6008), thegateway 120A, as described above, creates a connection between the dialpeer associated with the indial call and the appropriate applicationserver 132 (e.g., the call tree media server 6008) (block 6216).Accordingly, the indial call is connected with the user interface of theappropriate application server 132 (e.g., the call tree media server6008).

FIGS. 54A, 54B and 54C are flowcharts representative of example machinereadable instructions that may be executed to transfer a call from afirst application server 132 (e.g., the call tree media server 6008) toa second application server 132 (e.g., the messaging application server6010 of FIG. 49). For example, the interactive voice response unit 6410of the call tree media server 6008 may include an option for the user totransfer to a voice mail box on the messaging application server 6010 toleave a voice message or to listen to currently stored voice messages.The flowchart of FIG. 54 will be described with reference to thisexample.

In the example, of FIGS. 54A-C, the machine readable instructionscomprise a program for execution by a processor such as the processor8010 shown in the example computer 8000 discussed below in connectionwith FIG. 87. The program may be embodied in software stored on atangible medium such as a CD-ROM, a floppy disk, a hard drive, a digitalversatile disk (DVD), or a memory associated with the processor 8010,but persons of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate thatthe entire program and/or parts thereof could alternatively be executedby a device other than the processor 8010 and/or embodied in firmware ordedicated hardware in a well known manner. For example, any or all ofthe interfaces 6102, 6302, 6402, parameter extractor 6104, dial peerselector 6106, prefix embeddor 6110, prefix extractor 6304, serverselector 6306, message generation module 6310, transferor 6404, messagegenerator 6408 and/or the interactive voice response unit 6410 could beimplemented by software, hardware, and/or firmware. Further, althoughthe example program is described with reference to the flowchartillustrated in FIGS. 54A-C, persons of ordinary skill in the art willreadily appreciate that many other methods of implementing the examplegateway 120A, 120B, the example gatekeeper 135, the example call treemedia server 6008 and/or the example message application server 6010 mayalternatively be used. For example, the order of execution of the blocksmay be changed, and/or some of the blocks described may be changed,eliminated, or combined.

The machine executable instructions of FIG. 54A are executed when arequest is to be made to transfer an indial call from a firstapplication server 132 (e.g., the call tree media server 6008) to asecond application server 132 (e.g., the messaging application server6010). The indial call may be established for, by example, executing themachine executable instructions of FIG. 53. Upon initiating the calltransfer, the transferor 6404 of the application server 132, asdescribed above, determines a MBN (e.g., 555-999-4444) and a technologyprefix (e.g., 5#) associated with the MBN to which the call will betransferred (block 6502).

Once the MBN and the technology prefix associated with the call transferare determined (block 6502), both the technology prefix and the originalcalled party number (i.e., the access number) associated with the callare combined and stored with the called party parameter of a transferrequest (block 6504). For example, the called party parameter field maycontain the MBN, followed by the technology prefix, followed by theoriginal called party value. In addition, a delimiter such as the poundsign (#) may be used to separate the MBN from the technology prefixvalue. Thus, the example parameters associated with the call transferrequest may be

-   -   Calling Party: 555-999-1111 and    -   Called Party: 555-999-4444#5#555-999-2222.

A call transfer request is sent to the gateway 120A by the messagegenerator 6408 of the call tree media server 6008 (block 6506). Forexample, the call tree media server 6008 may make a H.450-2 transferrequest to initiate the call transfer or may make a transfer requestusing any other protocol and/or process for initiating a call transfer.The H.450-2 transfer request does not support the redirecting numberparameter as previously described. Therefore, in the illustrated examplethe example combined parameter described above is placed in the calledparty field of the H.450-2 transfer request.

When the call transfer request is received by, for example, the gateway120A (block 6506), the parameter extractor 6104 of the gateway 120Aparses the called party parameter of the call transfer request to obtainthe individual parameters embedded in the request (block 6508). The dialpeer selector 6106 then associates the call transfer with a dial-peerbased on one or more of the individual parameters (e.g., the technologyprefix) (block 6510). The prefix embeddor 6110 creates an ARQ messageincluding the original access number that was stored in the called partyfield of the call transfer request as well as the other data from therequest (e.g., the technology prefix). For example, the prefix embeddor6110 may create a new ARQ message with the parameters

-   -   Calling Party: 555-999-1111,    -   Called Party: 5#555-999-2222 and    -   Redirecting Number: 555-999-4444.

Then the gateway 120A sends the ARQ message to the gatekeeper 135 (block6512). The prefix extractor 6304 of the gatekeeper 135 extracts thetechnology prefix and, as described above, selects an application serverbased on the technology prefix (block 6514). After selecting themessaging application server 6010 (block 6514), the message generation6310 causes the interface 6302 to transmit an ACF message to the gateway120A which includes the address of the messaging application server 6010(block 6516). The ACF message is received by the gateway 120A (block6516).

After receiving the ACF (block 6516), the interface 6102 of the gateway120A connects the call to the address associated with the ACF messageusing the Q.931 call setup described in above (block 6518). For example,the call is connected to the messaging application server 6010 with themailbox number 555-999-4444 stored in the redirecting number field. Inother words, the call appears to the messaging application server 6010as though it has come directly to the messaging application server 6010as an indial call instead of as a call transfer from the call tree mediaserver 6008. Compared to an indial call, the call transfer arrives atthe messaging application server 6010 with the following parameters

-   -   Calling Party: Original Calling Party Number,    -   Called Party: TP#CTAN and    -   Redirecting Number: MBN.        As such, the messaging application server 6010 may use the CTAN        as the access number in any subsequent outdial request rather        than a CFN (as is the normal indial usage case for the messaging        application server 6010). In the example systems of FIGS. 1        and/or 49, the messaging application server 6010 uses the MBN to        identify the subscriber and, thus, the messaging application        server 6010 does not need to directly utilize and/or interpret        the CTAN or CFN contained in a set of indial and/or call        transfer parameters. However, when the messaging application        server 6010 is initiating a non-real-time outdial (i.e., which        is not tied to an indial and/or a call transfer) the messaging        application server 6010 determines an access number (e.g., a        CFN) from the MBN.

Once the call transfer is successful, the gateway 120A ends theconnection with the first server (e.g., call tree media server 6008)(block 6520). Ending this connection frees ports on the gateway 120A andthe call tree media server 6008 to handle other indial calls.

The example machine executable instructions of FIGS. 54B and 54Cillustrate alternative call transfer methods to the example machineexecutable instructions of FIG. 54A. The alternative methods illustratedin FIGS. 54B and 54C may be used, for example, with a gateway supportingan H.450-2 call transfer to an IP address or an application servercapable of accepting a call setup directly from another applicationserver. The illustrated example machine executable instructions of FIGS.54B-C proceed similarly to the example machine executable instructionsof FIG. 54A and, thus, the description of the first portion of FIGS. 54Band 54C will not be repeated here. Instead, the interested reader isreferred back to the corresponding description of FIG. 54A. Tofacilitate this process, like operations have been numbered with likereference numerals in FIGS. 54A-C. However, in contrast to the examplemachine readable instructions of FIG. 54A, in the example machinereadable instructions of FIGS. 54B and 54C, the first application serversends the ARQ message to the gatekeeper 135 (block 6512) and receivesthe ACF messages from the gatekeeper 135 (block 6516).

Referring to FIG. 54B, after receiving the ACF message from thegatekeeper 135 (block 6516), the first application server initiates andcompletes an H.450-2 call transfer request with the application serveraddress from the ACF message as the call transfer endpoint and with thecalling parameters as discussed above (block 6602). Once the calltransfer is successful (block 6602), the gateway 120A ends theconnection with the first server (e.g., call tree media server 6008)(block 6404) (block 6604). Ending this connection frees ports on thegateway 120A and the call tree media server 6008 to handle other indialcalls.

Referring to FIG. 54C, after receiving the ACF message from thegatekeeper 135 (block 6516), the first server initiates and establishesa call directly to the second server using the address of the secondserver from the ACF message (block 6702). Once the call is established,the first server uses H.323 ECS to direct the associated media paths tothe destination server (block 6704).

VIII. Operations Database

To securely manage a host enterprise's messaging platform and/orcommunications system, an enterprise customer's hierarchical structureand corresponding communication network components, and to securelymanage communication components for mass market subscribers, the examplesystems and methods described herein are implemented using datastructures stored in the operations database 160 and one or moredirectories (e.g., X.500 directories) stored in one or more messagecenters (e.g., the message center 130). In the example system of FIG. 1,one directory is associated with each message center, however, othercombinations of directories, message centers abound. The example systemsand methods use the operations database 160 and the directory(ies) tostore information about client enterprises and/or mass market consumers.That information is used by various components (e.g., the policy server150, the message center 130, the provisioner 162, the applicationservers 132A, etc.) for establishing or making outdial communicationservice calls for enterprise and mass market subscribers. For instance,the policy server 150 uses SQL queries of the operations database 160 topopulate a local (e.g., cached) data structure for use in authorizingoutdial calls and/or allocating communication resources to outdialcalls. The policy server 150 may, for example, load the local datastructure on initialization and periodically update the informationand/or a configuration change to the operations database 160 couldtrigger an update of the local data structure. Alternatively, the policyserver 150 could query the operations database 160 to access theinformation at the time the information is needed. The provisioner 162,as discussed above, uses information stored in the operations database160 to provision and/or configure gateways. The application servers 132Ause the directory(ies) to, for example, determine an ODRG for asubscriber, CTAN and/or call tree subscriber number.

In the interest of brevity and ease of discussion, throughout theremainder of this section references may be made to a single directory,a single message center. However, persons of ordinary skill in the artwill readily appreciate that the methods and systems described hereinare equally applicable to a plurality of directories for a plurality ofmessage centers. Further, while reference is made to a single operationsdatabase 160, persons of ordinary skill in the art will readilyappreciate that the operations database 160 could be implemented by morethan one operations database using any of a variety of techniques. Forexample, an operations database could be associated with each messagingsite (where a messaging site may contain one or more messaging centers)where the operations database for a site contains information related tothat site, and one of the operations database could be designated theprimary and additionally contain information that pertains to all sites.Other example configurations abound. Additionally, while reference ismade below to site-specific information and/or site-specific datastructures, it will be readily apparent to persons of ordinary skill inthe art that, for example, a shared data structure could storeconfiguration information for a plurality of sites and the shared datacould be replicated into the plurality of sites. It will be furtherrecognized that some devices, for example, the policy server 150, thegateway 120A and/or the gatekeeper 135 may implement functionality for aplurality of sites and, thus, the local data structure used by thepolicy server 150, the gateway 120A and/or the gatekeeper 135 maycontain configuration information for a plurality of sites.

As described in greater detail below, the example operations database160 and the directory are used to store information related to, forexample, one or more enterprise operation hierarchies, authorization androuting policies, one or more communication network configurations, etc.In other words, the operations database 160 stores informationassociated with a host enterprise, one or more client enterprises, andmass market subscribers and is used to enable communications between amessaging platform and/or system (that may contain more than one messagecenter) and one or more communications network(s) (i.e., globalinformation that covers more than one message center). In contrast, thedirectory in the message center 130 is used to store informationparticular to the subscribers of the client enterprises or the hostenterprise served by the message center 130. The information stored inthe directory is used by the message center to implement thecommunication and/or messaging functions (e.g., mailboxes, call trees,etc.) for each subscriber associated with that directory.

A host or client enterprise having a plurality of locations (e.g., aplurality of buildings or campuses) and/or providing communicationand/or message services to a geographically disparate set of persons(e.g., subscribers, employees, students, etc.) may be served by aplurality of message centers (e.g., a plurality of message centerssimilar to the message center 130); each serving one of the plurality oflocations or a pre-determined geographic region. In such a case, each ofthe plurality of message centers will have a directory havinginformation that is specific to the persons served by the respectivemessage center. Also, each of the directories is communicatively coupledto and coordinated with the operations database 160 to reflectinformation related to configurations, policies, rules, etc. ofenterprises as a whole.

FIG. 55 illustrates an entity relationship between the operationsdatabase 160 and two example message centers, namely message center A7002A and message center B 7002B. In the illustrated example, themessage center A 7002A may be used, for example to serve an enterprise'sfirst set of persons (e.g., employees principally co-located in abuilding or on a campus, a geographically associated set of subscribers,etc.) and the message center B 7002B may be used, for example, to serveanother set of persons (e.g., additionally employees principally locatedin another building or on another campus, a second geographicallyassociated set of subscribers, etc.). As shown, the operations database160 includes an enterprise module 7004 having a distinguished name(“DN”) of ACME CORP. that represents the enterprise Acme Corp. Themessage center A 7002A of the illustrated example includes a firstdirectory 7006A and the message center B 7002B of the illustratedexample includes a second directory 7006B. The first and seconddirectories 7006A and 7006B may be implemented, for example, using X.500databases and correspond to the Acme Corp. enterprise module 7004 storedin the operations database 160.

The enterprise module 7004 is used to store data structures (e.g., thetables of FIGS. 61-69) having information related to networkconfigurations, authorization and routing policies and/or rules, etc.that dictate how the message centers 7002A and 7002B communicate withone or more communications networks. The enterprise module 7004 mayinclude general information associated with the communicationsnetwork(s) related to the communication network(s) served by theoperations database 160 and some of the information specific to theenterprise Acme Corp. Although one enterprise module is shown (e.g., theenterprise module 7004), in other example implementations, theoperations database 160 may include any number of enterprise modules. Inthis case, each enterprise module may correspond to a different host orclient enterprise, and each of the enterprise modules may be used toprovide communication services for the subscribers of respectiveenterprise. The example enterprise module 7004 of FIG. 55 is illustratedin greater detail in FIG. 56.

The example directories 7006A and 7006B of FIG. 55 are used to storedata structures (e.g., the tables of FIGS. 70-78) having informationrelated to persons associated with the enterprise Acme Corp. and servedby the message centers 7002A and 7002B, respectively. The datastructures in the directories 7006A and 7006B may also include someinformation that is copied or retrieved from the enterprise module 7004.The example directories 7006A and 7006B of FIG. 55 are illustrated ingreater detail in FIG. 57.

An administrator may exchange information, modify information, retrieveinformation, or otherwise interact with the directories 7006A and 7006Band/or the operations database 160 using standard application programinterfaces that are available as libraries from most operating systemsand programming languages. In some example implementations, databaseinterfaces may be implemented using graphical user interfaces (GUIs) orcommand line interfaces (e.g., the user interface 170 of FIG. 1). Theinterfaces used and/or the accessibility of various portions of thedirectories 7006A and 7006B and/or the operations database 160 may varydepending upon whether the administrator is associated with a hostenterprise or a client enterprise.

FIG. 56 is a block diagram depicting example entity relationships amongsome of the data structures stored in the operations database 160 thatrelate to the example enterprise module 7004 of FIG. 55. In theillustrated example, the enterprise module 7004 links to a plurality ofdata structures associated with providing communication services to aplurality of persons associated with the enterprise Acme Corp. To accessidentifications, names, or other information of the unified sub-groups(e.g., the unified sub-groups 225A and 225B of FIG. 4) that may be usedto establish outdial calls, the enterprise module 7004 links to aunified sub-groups table 7010, which may be implemented as shown in FIG.68. The unified sub-group table 7010 is linked to an ODRG-to-unifiedsub-group linking table 7094 (implemented as shown in FIG. 69) thatlinks one or more ODRGs to one or more unified sub-groups. Specifically,the unified sub-group table 7010 includes a list of each unifiedsub-group and, for each unified sub-group, the ODRG-to-unified sub-grouplinking table 7094 may include an identification of one or more ODRGsthat may use that unified sub-group.

To access identifications, names, and/or any other information defininga message center accessible by the enterprise module 7004, theenterprise module 7004 links to a message center information table 7012(depicted in detail in FIG. 71). To access identifications, names,and/or other information of ODRGs defined in the operations database 160and that may be used for authorization and/or routing outdial calls forthe enterprise Acme Corp., the enterprise module 7004 links to anoutdial resource group table 7014 (depicted in detail in FIG. 64).

To access the access numbers (e.g., CFNs) associated with thesubscribers of each message center (e.g., the message center 130), theenterprise module 7004 links to an access number table 7114 (depicted inFIG. 72). If, for example, the message center 130 corresponds to threesets of subscribers, each set of subscribers is assigned to a numberrange (e.g., a range of mailbox numbers). In this manner, a differentnumber in the number range may be assigned to each subscriber in a setof subscribers. To access the message center 130 or to forward callsassociated with each subscriber to the message center 130 each numberrange and/or each set of subscribers is associated with a CFN. In theillustrated example, the message center 130 is associated with threeCFNs, each assigned to a different one of the three sets of subscribers.To store the number ranges associated with the enterprise module 7004,operations database 160 includes a number range table 7018 (depicted indetail in FIG. 73).

FIG. 57 illustrates an example hierarchy used to implement the examplemessage center directories 7006A and 7006B of FIG. 55. Because thesubscribers of each message center (e.g., the message center 130) usethe message center features to establish communications via acommunications network, the message center features are dependent uponcommunication network configuration information stored in the operationsdatabase 160. Accordingly, some information (e.g., number ranges) storedin the operations database 160 is replicated or copied into each messagecenter served by the operations database 160. In this manner, eachmessage center can enable its corresponding subscribers to establishcommunications via a communications network (e.g., a PSTN network, aVoIP network, etc.).

As shown in FIG. 57, the message center A directory 7006A includes anenterprise node 7022 that is communicatively coupled with and/or linkedto the enterprise module 7004 based on the distinguishing name ‘ACMECORP.’ Of course the distinguishing name may be any other string suchas, for example, ‘ACME,’ ‘MAILBOXES,’ etc. The enterprise node 7022 iscommunicatively coupled to intermediate level nodes (ILNs) 7024. Theenterprise node 7022 and the ILNs 7024 may be replicated in each messagecenter that is served by the operations database 160. In the illustratedexample, the ILNs 7024 include an engineering ILN 7026A and a sales andmarketing ILN 7026B. The engineering ILN 7026A includes one or more setsor groups of subscribers (e.g., employees of the enterprise Acme Corp.)associated with a common subscriber attribute. In the illustratedexample, the common subscriber attribute for the subscribers in theengineering ILN 7026A is a work assignment or employment within anengineering business division (e.g., an ILN subscriber groupidentification). The engineering ILN 7026A specifies an ENG ODRG thatwill be used by every subscriber within the engineering ILN 7026A exceptthose subscribers associated with ODRGs that override the ENG ODRG.

Each of the ILNs 7026A and 7026B includes one or more sets ofsubscribers that may be further separated into communities of interest(COI) 7028. For instance, the example engineering ILN 7026B of FIG. 57includes a research COI 7030A and a testing COI 7030B. The exampleresearch COI 7030A corresponds to a set of subscribers (or a subscribergroup) having a common subscriber attribute or characteristic indicativeof work assignment or employment within a research engineering division(e.g., a COI subscriber group identification) of the enterprise node7022, while the example testing COI 7030B corresponds to a set ofsubscribers (or a subscriber group) within a test engineering divisionof the enterprise node 7022. As indicated in FIG. 57, subscribersassociated with the research COI 7030A and the testing COI 7030B areassigned a number within the number range (“NR”) 001-100. These numberranges correspond to number ranges stored in the number range table 7018(FIG. 56) of the operations database 160. For purposes of clarity,although telephone numbers and/or mailbox numbers typically contain moredigits, the numbers described herein are represented using any threedigits. Further, the any of a variety of numbering schemes applicable tocommunication systems and/or networks may be utilized. For example, the10-digit telephone numbering schemed employed in North America.

The example sales and marketing ILN 7026B includes a sales COI 7032A anda marketing COI 7032B. A shown in FIG. 57, the example sales andmarketing COIs 7032A and 7032B also include respective number ranges.Specifically, the sales COI 7032A includes two number ranges (NR:101-200 and NR: 301-400) and the example marketing COI 7032B includesone number range (NR: 301-400). Also, each of the example sales andmarketing COIs 7032A and 7032B specify a respective ODRG. Specifically,each subscriber within the example sales COI 7032A is assigned a SALESODRG, while each subscriber in the marketing COI 7032B is assigned aMKTING ODRG. Of course, any subscriber that specifies its own ODRG willoverride the ODRG specified at the COI level or at the ILN level.

A plurality of subscribers associated with each of the example COIs7030A, 7030B, 7032A, and 7032B are illustrated at a subscribers level7034 in FIG. 57. Specifically, a set of subscribers associated with theresearch COI 7030A includes a subscriber 7036 assigned number 001 and asubscriber 7038 assigned number 003. As shown in FIG. 57, the subscriber7036 specifies an ODRG named “VP”, which overrides the ENG ODRGspecified by the engineering ILN 7026. In other words, ODRGs specifiedat lower levels of the directory hierarchy override ODRGs specified athigher levels of the directory hierarchy. Although not shown, theenterprise node 7022 may specify an ODRG for all the subscribers withinthe message center A directory 7006A that do not otherwise specify anoverriding ODRG at a lower hierarchical level (e.g., one or more of theILN level 7024, the COI level 7028, and/or the subscribers level 7034).

Also shown in FIG. 57 is a detailed diagram of the message center Bdirectory 7006B, which includes an enterprise node 7040, an ILN level7042, a COI level 7044, and a subscriber level 7046. The enterprise node7040 and the ILN level 7042 respectively include information that isidentical to the enterprise node 7022 and the ILN level 7024 of themessage center A directory 7006A. Specifically, in the illustratedexample, the information in the enterprise nodes 7022 and 7040 and theILN levels 7028 and 7042 is copied from the enterprise module messagecenter A directory 7006A to the message center B directory 7006B.However, the information associated with the COI level 7044 and thesubscriber level 7046 of the message center B directory 7006B isdifferent from the information associated with the COI level 7028 andthe subscriber level 7034 of the message center A directory 7006A. Inparticular, although the COI level 7044 of the message center Bdirectory 7006B may include a research COI (not shown) and a testing COI(not shown), in the illustrated example, the number ranges associatedtherewith are different than the number ranges (e.g., NR: 001-100)assigned to the research and testing COIs 7030A and 7030B of the messagecenter A directory 7006A.

FIG. 58 depicts a plurality of example data access objects used toaccess data structures (e.g., the tables of FIGS. 61-78) stored in theexample operations database 160 and/or the example message centerdirectories (e.g., the directories 7006A and 7006B of FIGS. 55 and 56).The example data access objects can be grouped into a global objectsgroup 7052, a site-specific objects group 7054, a messagecenter-specific objects group 7056, and an administrator informationobjects group 7058. The objects in each of the groups 7052, 7054, 7056,and 7058 may be used to implement applications for accessing informationstored in data structures such as the example tables of FIGS. 61-78and/or any other desired data structures. For example, the objects maybe invoked by application program interfaces used to create command lineuser interfaces or GUI user interfaces. Also, use of any or all of theobjects and/or access to any or all of the objects may be restrictedbased on privilege levels assigned to administrators. For example, anadministrator of a host enterprise may have access to more object thanan administrator of a client enterprise.

The example global objects group 7052 of FIG. 58 includes objects thatcan be used to access information stored in data structures (e.g., theexample tables of FIGS. 61-64) having information related to acommunications network and accessed by operations databases and messagecenters located the communications network. The information accessedusing the global objects 7052 is typically stored in the operationsdatabase 160 (FIGS. 1, 55, and 57). In the illustrated example, theglobal objects group 7052 is provided with the global objects describedbelow.

To lookup or determine which LATAs are associated with one or moreparticular telephone numbers (e.g., access numbers, mailbox numbers,CFNs, CTANs, etc.), the global objects group 7052 is provided with aLATA-to-number lookup object 7060. Specifically, the LATA-to-numberlookup object 7060 is used to access LATA-to-number lookup informationorganized in one or more data structures such as the exampleLATA-to-number lookup table 7062 of FIG. 61. In an exampleimplementation of FIG. 61, the policy server 150 (FIGS. 1 and 3) mayaccess LATA-to-number lookup information using the LATA-to-number lookupobject 7060 and store or cache the LATA-to-number lookup information inthe memory 1005 (FIG. 3) for subsequent use by the processor 1010 (FIG.3), the outdial authorizer 1020 (FIG. 3) and/or the resource locator1025 (FIG. 3).

To access regulatory and business authorization and routing rules, theglobal objects group 7052 is provided with a regulatory and businessrules object 7064. Specifically, the regulatory and business rulesobject 7064 is used to access regulatory and business authorization androuting rules organized in one or more data structures such as theexample regulatory and business authorization and routing rules table7066 of FIG. 62. In some example implementations, the policy server 150(FIG. 1) may access regulatory and business authorization and routingrules using the regulatory and business rules object 7066 and store orcache the regulatory and business authorization and routing rules in thememory 1005 (FIG. 3) for subsequent use by the outdial authorizer 1020(FIG. 3).

To access enterprise information (e.g., identification, description,distinguishing name (DN), public/private status, etc.) associated withenterprises located throughout a communications network, the globalobjects group 7052 is provided with an enterprise object 7068.Specifically, the example enterprise object 7068 of FIG. 58 is used toaccess enterprise information organized in one or more data structuressuch as the example enterprise table 7070 of FIG. 63. In some exampleimplementations, the policy server 150 (FIG. 1) may use the enterpriseobject 7068 to retrieve enterprise-related information (e.g., a list ofavailable shared outdial sub-groups (4020C of FIG. 38) and/or a list ofprivate outdial unified sub-groups (4020B of FIG. 38)) related to one ormore enterprises implemented in a particular site and to store and/orcache the enterprise-related information in the memory 1005 (FIG. 3).

To access ODRG information including circuit type information (e.g.,public, private, shared) and/or feature information (e.g., the outdialcommunication services of FIG. 3) associated with ODRGs throughout acommunications network, the global objects group 7052 is provided withan outdial resource group object 7072. Specifically, the example outdialresource group object 7072 of FIG. 58 is used to access ODRG informationorganized in one or more data structures such as the example outdialresource group table 7014 of FIG. 64. An arrow 7074 shown pointing fromthe outdial resource group object 7072 to the enterprise object 7068indicates that the outdial resource group object 7072 is keyed to pointinto a particular entry of the enterprise object 7068. Specifically, inthe illustrated example, a KeyEnterprise entry 7075 (FIG. 64) points toa particular enterprise data structure organized according to theenterprise table 7070 of FIG. 63.

The example site-specific objects group 7054 of FIG. 58 includes objectsthat can be used to access information stored in data structures (e.g.,the data structures of FIGS. 65-69) having information related to aspecific message center site that contains one or more message centers.The information accessed using the site-specific objects 7054 may bestored in the operations database 160 and/or in the message centerdirectories (e.g., the directories 7006A and 7006B of FIGS. 55 and 57).In the illustrated example, the site-specific objects group 7054 isprovided with the site-specific objects described below.

To access information about sites having one or more message centers(e.g., one or more of the message centers 130), the site-specificobjects group 7054 of FIG. 58 is provided with a site information object7076. The example site information object 7076 of FIG. 58 is used toaccess site information organized in one or more data structures such asthe example site information table 7078 of FIG. 65.

To access information associated with outdial unified super-groups(e.g., the outdial unified super-group 220B of FIG. 2) available in aparticular site, the example site-specific objects group 7054 of FIG. 58is provided with an outdial unified super-group object 7080. The exampleoutdial unified super-group object 7080 of FIG. 58 is used to accessoutdial unified super-group information organized in one or more datastructures such as the example outdial unified super-group table 7082 ofFIG. 66.

To access information associated with unified sub-groups (e.g., theunified sub-groups 225A and 225B of FIG. 2), the example site-specificobjects group 7054 of FIG. 58 is provided with a unified sub-groupobject 7084. The example unified sub-group object 7054 of FIG. 58 isused to access unified sub-group information organized in one or moredata structures such as the example unified sub-group table 7010 of FIG.68. An arrow 7088 shown pointing from the unified sub-group object 7084to the enterprise object 7068 of FIG. 58 indicates that the exampleunified sub-group object 7084 is keyed to point into a particular entryof the example enterprise object 7068. Specifically, a KeyEnterpriseentry 7090 (FIG. 68) points to a particular enterprise data structuresuch as the example enterprise table 7070 of FIG. 63. In some exampleimplementations, the policy server 150 (FIG. 1) uses the unifiedsub-group object 7084 to retrieve unified sub-group related informationand stores or caches the returned information in the memory 1005 (FIG.3) for subsequent use by, for example, the processor 1010 (FIG. 3)and/or the resource allocator 1025 (FIG. 3).

To access information associated with linkings between ODRGs and unifiedsub-groups (e.g., the unified sub-groups 225A and 225B of FIG. 2), theexample site-specific objects group 7054 of FIG. 58 is provided with anODRG-to-unified sub-group linkage object 7092. The exampleODRG-to-unified sub-group linkage object 7092 of FIG. 58 is used toaccess linking information organized in one or more data structures suchas the ODRG-to-unified sub-group linkage table 7094 of FIG. 69. Thearrow 7096 shown pointing from the ODRG-to-unified sub-group linkageobject 7092 to the outdial resource group object 7072 of FIG. 58indicates that a KeyODRG entry 7098 (FIG. 69) points to a particularODRG data structure such as the example outdial resource group table7014 of FIG. 64. In some example implementations, the policy server 150(FIG. 1) uses the ODRG-to-unified sub-group linkage object 7092 toretrieve mapping information between unified sub-group and ODRGs andstores or caches the returned information in the memory 1005 (FIG. 3)for subsequent use by, for example, the processor 1010 (FIG. 3) and/orthe resource allocator 1025 (FIG. 3).

Although not shown, the site-specific objects group 7054 may also beprovided with a TBCT object to access information indicating, for agiven access number, a unified sub-group for which a link release may beperformed. In particular, the TBCT object may be used to accessinformation organized in data structures according to the two B-channeltransfer table 7102 of FIG. 67. While the example TBCT table 7102illustrates a single TBCT capable unified sub-group per access number,persons of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate thatmultiple TBCT capable unified sub-groups could be associated with anaccess number. For example, the unified sub-group field could contain alist of TBCT capable unified sub-groups or multiple table entriesindexed by the same access number could be utilized.

The example message center-specific objects group 7056 of FIG. 58includes objects that can be used to access information stored in one ormore data structures (e.g., the tables of FIGS. 70-73) havinginformation related to one or more specific message centers (e.g.,information related specifically to the message center 130). Theinformation accessed using the message center-specific objects 7056 maybe stored in one or more message center directories (e.g., thedirectories 7006A and 7006B of FIGS. 55 and 57). In the illustratedexample, the message center-specific objects group 7056 is provided withthe message center-specific objects described below.

To access information indicating the message centers (e.g., the messagecenters 7002A and 7002B of FIG. 55) in which particular enterprises(e.g., the enterprise nodes 7022 and 7040 of FIG. 57) are implemented,the example message center-specific objects group 7056 of FIG. 58 isprovided with a per-message center enterprise object 7104. The exampleper-message center enterprise object 7104 of FIG. 58 is used to accessmessage center and enterprise identifications or keys organized in oneor more data structures such as the example per-message centerenterprise table 7106 of FIG. 70.

To access identifications of each message center (e.g., the messagecenter 130) and other information related to each message center, theexample message center-specific objects group 7056 of FIG. 58 isprovided with a message center information object 7108. The examplemessage center information object 7108 of FIG. 58 is used to accessinformation in one or more data structures such as the example messagecenter information table 7012 of FIG. 71. In some exampleimplementations, for each site having one or more message centers (e.g.,one or more of the message center 130 of FIG. 1 or the message centers7002A and 7002B of FIG. 55), the policy server 150 (FIG. 1) may use themessage center information object 7108 to retrieve a list of the messagecenter(s) and store or cache the list of message center(s) in the memory1005 (FIG. 3).

To retrieve, for example, a LATA associated with an access number (e.g.,CFN, CTAN, etc.), the example message center-specific object group 7056of FIG. 58 is provided with an access number object 7112. The exampleaccess number object 7112 of FIG. 58 is used to retrieve routing andother configuration applicable to all subscribers using the accessnumber and is organized in one or more data structures such as theaccess number table 7114 of FIG. 72. In some example implementations,the policy server 150 (FIGS. 1 and 3) uses the access number object 7112to determine access number related information (e.g., an indial gatewayof a LATA, a reference to the enterprise, etc.) and stores or caches theinformation in the memory 1005 (FIG. 3) for subsequent use by theoutdial authorizer 1020 and/or the resource allocator 1025 of FIG. 3.

To determine number ranges (e.g., NR: 001-100 assigned to the researchand testing COIs 7030A and 7030B of FIG. 57) associated with messagecenters, the example message center-specific objects group 7056 of FIG.58 is provided with a number range object 7116. The example number rangeobject 7116 of FIG. 58 is used to access one or more number rangesorganized in one or more data structures such as the example numberrange table 7018 of FIG. 73.

The example administrator information objects group 7058 of FIG. 58 isprovided with a plurality of objects (not shown) associated withaccessing administrator identifications, administrator groups,passwords, and data access privileges associated with administratorsthat may access at least some of the information described above.Specifically, the objects in the example administrator informationobjects group 7058 of FIG. 58 may be used to access informationorganized in one or more data structures such as the exampleadministrative-related tables depicted in FIGS. 74 through 78.

Although only those objects described above are shown, any other objectsmay be implemented to access any other information whether or not suchinformation is depicted in the example tables of FIGS. 61-78.

FIG. 59 depicts example logical relationships between the exampleadministrative-related tables of FIGS. 74-78 which store informationused to manage access rights of administrators. As shown in FIG. 59, anexample administrator group link table 7120 (depicted in detail in FIG.77) links administrator identifications stored in an administrator table7122 (depicted in detail in FIG. 74) with group identifications storedin a group table 7124 (depicted in detail in FIG. 75). Specifically, theadministrator group link table 7120 provides information indicatinggroups with which administrators are associated. Each of the groups maybe associated with particular permissions so that an administratorassigned to a particular group inherits all of the permissions of thatgroup. Each group is assigned permissions based on a permission grouplink table 7126 (depicted in detail in FIG. 78), which includes linkinginformation between groups of the group table 7124 and permissionsstored in a permission table 7128 (depicted in detail in FIG. 76).

FIG. 60 depicts a detailed example implementation of the example logicalrelationships of FIG. 59. In particular, FIG. 60 depicts example datastructure or table implementations containing information organizedaccording to the tables 7120, 7122, 7124, 7126, and 7128 of FIGS. 74-78and 59 to manage administrator access rights. The logical relationshipsdepicted in FIGS. 59 and 60 enable changing permissions of particularadministrators or particular groups of administrators without affectingthe rights of other administrators. The logical relationships alsoallows changing the rights of a plurality of administratorssimultaneously by, for example, changing a permission in the permissiontable that is assigned to a group of administrators for whom thepermission should be changed.

As shown in FIG. 60, an example administrator group link table 7130 andan example permission group link table 7132 are used in combination toassign permissions 2, 3, and 4 to administrators B and C. In particular,the example permission group link table 7132 associates or linkspermissions 2, 3, and 4 with group I, and the example administratorgroup link table 7130 associates or links administrators B and C withgroup I.

FIG. 79 depicts a logical entity relationship between the tablesdepicted in FIGS. 61-78 and other example tables.

FIG. 80 is a block diagram of an example system that may be used toaccess information associated with one or more operations databases(e.g., the operations database 160 of FIGS. 1, 55, and 57) and one ormore message centers (e.g., the message center 130 of FIG. 1 and themessage centers 7006A and 7006B of FIGS. 55 and 57). In particular, theexample system of FIG. 80 includes a communications network interface7152 to obtain communications network configuration information. Toaccess (e.g., retrieve, modify, add, or delete) information stored inone or more operations databases (e.g., the operations database 160),the example system is provided with an operations database interface7154. To access information stored in one or more message centerdirectories, the example system is provided with a message centerinterface 7156. To enable a user (e.g., an administrator) to access anyof the information accessible via the communications network interface7152, the operations database interface 7154, or the message centerinterface 7156, the example system is provided with a user interface7158. The user interface 7158 may be implemented using one or morecommand line interfaces and/or one or more graphical user interfaces(GUIs). In the illustrated example, the user interface 7158 providesadministrator access to at least one of the operations database 160 ormessage centers (e.g., the message centers 130 of FIG. 1 or 7002A or7002B of FIG. 55) based on administrator permissions stored in, forexample, the administrator information tables 7120, 7122, 7124, 7126,and 7128 of FIGS. 74-78. For example, the user interface 7158 may beimplemented using an operations database GUI that is used to accessenterprise-level information (e.g., information stored in the enterprisemodule 7004) stored in the operations database 160. For instance, theuser interface 7158 may provide access via a GUI interface toinformation stored in at least some of the global tables 7062, 7066,7070, 7014 of FIGS. 61-64 and/or the site tables 7078, 7082, 7102, 7010,7094 of FIGS. 65-69. Additionally, a message center GUI may be used toaccess information in one or more message center directories (e.g.,information stored in the directories 7006A and/or 7006B of FIGS. 1 and3. For instance, the user interface 7158 may provide access via a GUIinterface to information stored in at least some of the message centertables 7106, 7012, 7114, 7018 of FIGS. 70-73.

As shown in FIG. 80, the interfaces 7152, 7154, 7156, and 7158 arecommunicatively coupled with the objects in the object groups 7052,7054, 7056, 7058 described above in connection with FIG. 58. In thismanner, the interfaces 7152, 7154, 7156, and 7158 may be used to accessthe information stored in the tables depicted in FIGS. 61-78 describedabove. To restrict access based on permissions for each administrator,for each administrator that logs in, the user interface 7158 assessespermissions stored in the administrator-related tables of FIGS. 74-78 todetermine what access rights have been assigned to that administrator.

FIGS. 81-86 are flow diagrams representative of example machine readableinstructions that may be used to implement the example methods andsystems described herein. The machine readable instructions of FIGS.81-86 may be executed by a processor, a controller and/or any othersuitable processing device. For example, the machine readableinstructions of FIGS. 81-86 may be embodied in coded instructions storedon a tangible medium such as a flash memory, or RAM associated with theprocessor 8010 shown in the example processor platform 8000 anddiscussed below in conjunction with FIG. 87. Alternatively, some or allof the example machine readable instructions of FIGS. 81-86 may beimplemented using an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), aprogrammable logic device (PLD), a field programmable logic device(FPLD), discrete logic, hardware, etc. Also, some or all of the machinereadable instructions of FIGS. 81-86 may be implemented manually or ascombinations of any of the foregoing techniques. Further, although theexample machine readable instructions of FIGS. 81-86 are described withreference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 81-86, persons of ordinary skill inthe art will readily appreciate that many other methods may be employed.For example, the order of execution of the blocks may be changed, and/orsome of the blocks described may be changed, eliminated, sub-divided, orcombined.

FIG. 81 is a flow diagram representative of example machine readableinstructions that may be executed to implement an example method toprovision a new enterprise. The operations described below may beperformed by an administrator having sufficient privileges to provisiona new enterprise via the user interface 7158 described above inconnection with FIG. 80. Initially, the administrator selects one ormore message centers to be used in connection with the new enterprise(block 7202). The administrator then updates the operations database 160(FIG. 1) to include information associated with the new enterprise andthe message centers selected at block 7202 (block 7204). The operationof block 7204 is described in detail below in connection with FIG. 82.

The administrator then obtains and updates communications networkconfiguration information (block 7206). For example, the administratormay obtain the communications network configuration information from anetwork operation and update the information in the operations database160. The operation of block 7206 is described in detail below inconnection with FIG. 83.

The administrator then configures one or more message center directories(block 7208) for the one or more message centers selected at block 7202.The operation of block 7208 is described in detail below in connectionwith FIG. 84.

The administrator then stores customer administrator records in theoperations database 160 (FIGS. 1, 55, and 57) (block 7210). Theadministrator records may be used to assign access rights or permissionsto customer administrators (e.g., administrators of an enterprise suchas Acme Corp. shown in FIGS. 55 and 57) based on, for example, theadministrator information tables 7120, 7122, 7124, 7126, and 7128 ofFIGS. 59 and 74-78. In the illustrated example, the customeradministrator records enable customer administrator to manage subscriberservices and other subscriber information for any or all subscribersassigned to any one or more message centers within a site associatedwith the operations database 160.

The administrator then determines whether to provision anotherenterprise (block 7212). If the administrator determines that anotherenterprise is to be provisioned (block 7212), then control returns toblock 7202. Otherwise, control returns to a calling process or functionand/or the process depicted by the flow diagram of FIG. 81 is ended.

FIG. 82 is a flow diagram representative of example machine readableinstructions that may be executed to update an operations database inconnection with the example method of FIG. 81. Initially, the operationsdatabase interface 7154 (FIG. 80) creates an enterprise module (e.g.,the enterprise module 7004 of FIGS. 55-57) in the operations database160 (block 7222). For example, the operations database interface 7154may use the enterprise object 7068 (FIG. 58) to store enterpriseinformation in the operations database 160.

The operations database interface 7154 then creates ODRGs for theenterprise (block 7224). For example, the operations database interface7154 may use the outdial resource group object 7072 (FIG. 58) to storeinformation in the operations database 160 about the ODRGs that areallocated to the enterprise. The operations database interface 7154 thencreates any new unified sub-groups (e.g., the unified sub-groups 225Aand 225B of FIG. 2) in the operations database 160 (block 7226). Forexample, the operations database may use the unified sub-group object7084 (FIG. 58) to store information in the operations database 160 forany new unified sub-group(s) allocated for use by the enterprise.

The operations database interface 7154 then associates one or more CFNswith the enterprise (block 7228). For example, the operations databaseinterface 7154 may associate CFNs stored in the access numbers table7114 (FIG. 56) with the enterprise and store the associations in theoperations database 160. The operations database interface 7154 thencreates the number ranges (e.g., NR: 001-200 and NR: 301-400 assigned inthe message center A directory 7006A as shown in FIG. 57) for theenterprise (block 7230) and associates each number range with one of theCFNs associated with the enterprise at block 7228 (block 7232). Controlis then returned to a calling process or function such as, for example,the example process depicted by the flow diagram of FIG. 81.

FIG. 83 is a flow diagram representative of example machine readableinstructions that may be executed to configure a communications networkin connection with the example method of FIG. 81. Initially, thecommunications network interface 7152 (FIG. 80) obtains PSTN switchinformation (e.g., information about the PSTN switches 115A, 115B, and115C of FIG. 1) and indial gateway information (e.g., information aboutthe gateways 120A and 120B of FIG. 1) for each LATA in which theenterprise will be implemented (block 7242). Based on the information,the communications network (e.g., the PSTN or a VoIP network) isconfigured to route each CFN to a specific PSTN switch and via aspecific circuit group to one of at least one indial gateway at block7242 associated with the CFN (block 7244).

The operations database interface 7154 then, if not previouslyconfigured, configures a communications network (e.g., the PSTN or aVoIP network) to route each of the numbers in the number ranges to theclient enterprise (e.g., to a PBX associated with the client enterprise)(block 7246). In some example implementations, the assigned numberranges are terminated at corresponding private branch exchanges (PBXs).

The operations database interface 7154 then, using the associationbetween each of the numbers and a CFN, configures the client enterpriseand/or a communications network to forward unanswered calls placed tothe numbers to be forwarded to the associated CFN (block 7248).

The administrator then installs or schedules installation of any newcommunications hardware required to provision the enterprise (block7250). For example, if the administrator determines that any of theoperations described above require more hardware (e.g., PSTN switches,circuit groups, indial gateways, etc.) to accommodate, for example, thenumbers, the CFNs, etc., then the administrator installs or schedulesinstallation of the additional required hardware (block 7250). Theadministrator then determines if the communications networkconfiguration should be updated (block 7252) in the operations database160. For example, if the administrator adds new hardware at block 7250,then the communications network configuration should be updated.Accordingly, if the administrator determines that the communicationsnetwork configuration should be updated, then control returns to block7242. Otherwise, control is returned to a calling process or functionsuch as, for example, the example process depicted in the flow diagramof FIG. 81.

FIG. 84 is a flow diagram representative of example machine readableinstructions that may be executed to configure one or more messagecenter directories in connection with the example method of FIG. 81.Initially, the example message center interface 7156 (FIG. 80) createsone or more enterprise nodes (e.g., the enterprise nodes 7022 and 7040of FIG. 57) in each message center directory (block 7262) associatedwith the message centers selected at block 7202 (FIG. 81). For example,for each message center directory, the message center interface 7156 mayuse the per-message center enterprise object 7104 (FIG. 58) to createand/or update an enterprise node data structure such as the per-messagecenter enterprise table 7106 of FIG. 70.

The message center interface 7156 then creates intermediate level nodes(e.g., the ILNs 7026A and 7026B of FIG. 57) and communities of interest(e.g., the COIs 7030A, 7030B, 7032A, and 7032B of FIG. 57) (block 7264)for each of the enterprise nodes created at block 7262. The messagecenter interface 7156 then adds number ranges to correspondingdirectories (e.g., the message center directories created at block 7262)(block 7266) by, for example, using the number range object 7116 (FIG.58) to access one or more data structures such as the example numberrange table 7018 (FIG. 73).

The message center interface 7156 then associates COIs withcorresponding number ranges (block 7268). For example, in theillustrated example of FIG. 57, the message center interface 7156 mayassociated number ranges 001-100 with the research COI 7030A and/or thetesting COI 7030B. The message center interface 7156 then associatesODRGs with COIs or ILNs (block 7270). For example, in the illustratedexample of FIG. 57, the message center interface 7156 may associateODRG: ENG to the engineering ILN 7026A and ODRG: SALES to the sales COI7032A. Control is then returned to a calling process or function suchas, for example, the example process depicted by the flow diagram ofFIG. 81.

FIG. 85 is a flow diagram representative of example machine readableinstructions that may be executed to implement an example method toprovision private (e.g., business) and/or public (e.g., mass consumermarket) subscribers. Initially, an administrator assigns a number (e.g.,a mailbox number) to a subscriber (block 7302). In the operation ofblock 7302, the administrator may also assign the subscriber to aparticular community of interest (e.g., one of the COIs 7030A, 7030B,7032A, and 7032B of FIG. 57) and/or a class of service.

The interface used by the administrator verifies the administrativeprivileges for the administrator (block 7304), having been verified, theadministrator creates the subscriber (e.g., at the subscriber level 7304of FIG. 57) in a corresponding message center directory (e.g., one ofthe directories 7006A or 7006B of FIGS. 55 and 57) (block 7306) andverifies that the assigned number is valid (block 7308). For example,the administrator may verify the subscriber's administrator privilegesas described above in connection with FIG. 60. Also, the administratormay verify that the assigned number is valid by ensuring that it is notalready assigned to another subscriber.

The administrator then identifies the LATA associated with the number(block 7308) by using, for example, the LATA-to-number lookup object7060 (FIG. 58) to access a LATA-to-number lookup table. Then theadministrator identifies a CFN associated with the subscriber number(block 7312) by, for example, accessing a data structure associated withthe subscriber number (e.g., the number range table 7018 of FIG. 73).Then the administrator determines which ODRG(s) are associated with thesubscriber (block 7314). For enterprise subscribers, a default ODRG maybe overridden. However, in the illustrated example, the default ODRG maynot be overridden for public subscribers.

The administrator then provisions the subscriber (block 7316) anddetermines if another subscriber should be provisioned (block 7318). Ifanother subscriber should be provisioned then control is passed back toblock 7302. Otherwise, control is returned to a calling process orfunction and/or the example process of FIG. 85 is ended.

FIG. 86 is a flow diagram representative of machine readableinstructions that may be executed to implement an example method to addsites and message centers. Initially, an administrator determines if amessage center (e.g., the message center 130 of FIG. 1) should be addedto an existing site (block 7402). If a message center is not to be addedto an existing site, then the administrator determines if a new site isto be created (block 7404). If a new site is to be created, then theadministrator adds information about the new site to the operationsdatabase 160 (block 7406) by, for example, storing information in one ormore data structures such as the site information table 7078 (FIG. 65).The administrator then installs and configures any required newcommunications network hardware, software, and/or network routing (block7408).

The administrator then adds a first message center (e.g., the messagecenter 130 of FIG. 1) to the site (block 7410) and determines if anothermessage center should be added (block 7412). If the administratordetermines at block 7412 or at block 7402 that another message centershould be added, then the administrator installs any new requiredhardware, software, and/or network routing (block 7414). Theadministrator then stores information about the message center in theoperations database 160 (block 7416) and updates a correspondingenterprise module (e.g., the enterprise module 7004 of FIGS. 55-57) thatis intended to be used in combination with the new message center (e.g.,an enterprise module associated with subscribers within the new messagecenter).

The administrator then creates a message center directory (e.g., one ofthe message center directories 7006A and 7006B of FIGS. 55 and 57) inthe message center (block 7420). For example, the message centerdirectory may be used to accommodate subscribers within the messagecenter that are associated with the enterprise module updated at block7418. The administrator then determines if another site is to be added(block 7422). If another site is not to be added at this time or if theadministrator determines at block 7404 that a new site is not to becreated, then control is returned to a calling process or functionand/or the example process depicted in FIG. 86 is ended.

IX. Example Processor Platform

FIG. 87 is a schematic diagram of an example processor platform 8000capable of executing, among other things, the example message exchangesof FIGS. 5-8, the example machine readable instructions of FIGS. 9A-D,17, 30-36, 42-43, 47, 48, 53, 54A-C and/or 81-86, and/or the resourceallocation methods mathematically expressed in EQNS 1-6. For example,the processor platform 8000 can be implemented by one or more generalpurpose microprocessors, microcontrollers, etc.

In a networked deployment, the example processor platform 8000 mayoperate in the capacity of a server or as a client user computer in aserver-client user network environment, or as a peer computer system ina peer-to-peer (or distributed) network environment. The exampleprocessor platform 8000 can also be implemented as or incorporated intovarious devices, such as a PC, a tablet PC, a set-top box (STB), apersonal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile device, a palmtop computer, alaptop computer, a desktop computer, a communications device, a wirelesstelephone, a land-line telephone, a control system, a camera, a scanner,a facsimile machine, a printer, a pager, a personal trusted device, aweb appliance, a network router, switch or bridge, and/or any othermachine capable of executing a set of instructions (sequential orotherwise) that specify actions to be taken by that machine. Further,the example processor platform 8000 can be implemented using one or moreelectronic devices that provide voice, video or data communication.While a single example processor platform 8000 is illustrated, the term“system” shall also be taken in this patent to include any collection ofsystems or sub-systems that individually or jointly execute a set, ormultiple sets, of instructions to perform one or more functions.

The processor platform 8000 of the example of FIG. 87 includes a generalpurpose programmable processor 8010. The processor 8010 executes codedinstructions 8027 present in main memory of the processor 8010 (e.g.,within a RAM 8025). The processor 8010 may be any type of processingunit, such as a microprocessor from the Intel®, AMD®, IBM®, or SUN®families of microprocessors. The processor 8010 may implement, amongother things, the example message exchanges of FIGS. 5-8, the examplemachine readable instructions of FIGS. 9A-D, 17, 30-36, 42-43, 47, 48,53, 54A-C and/or 81-86, and/or the resource allocation methodsmathematically expressed in EQNS 1-6.

The processor 8010 is in communication with the main memory (including aROM 8020 and the RAM 8025) via a bus 8005. The RAM 8025 may beimplemented by Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM), DynamicDRAM, and/or any other type of RAM device. The ROM 8020 may beimplemented by flash memory and/or any other desired type of memorydevice. Access to the memory 8020 and 8025 is typically controlled by amemory controller (not shown) in a conventional manner.

The processor platform 8000 also includes a conventional interfacecircuit 8030. The interface circuit 8030 may be implemented by any typeof well known interface standard, such as an external memory interface,serial port, general purpose input/output, etc.

One or more input devices 8035 and one or more output devices 8040 areconnected to the interface circuit 8030. The input devices 8035 andoutput devices 8040 may be used to implement interfaces between, forexample, the policy server 150 and the operations database 160, thegatekeeper 135, the message center 130 and/or the application servers132, between the operations database 160 and the gateway provisioner162, and/or between the gateway provisioner 162 and a gateway.

Of course, persons of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that theorder, size, and proportions of the memory illustrated in the examplesystems may vary. Additionally, although this patent discloses examplesystems including, among other components, software or firmware executedon hardware, it should be noted that such systems are merelyillustrative and should not be considered as limiting. For example, itis contemplated that any or all of these hardware and softwarecomponents could be embodied exclusively in hardware, exclusively insoftware, exclusively in firmware or in some combination of hardware,firmware and/or software. Accordingly, persons of ordinary skill in theart will readily appreciate that the above described examples are notthe only way to implement such systems.

At least some of the above described example methods and/or apparatusare implemented by one or more software and/or firmware programs runningon a computer processor. However, dedicated hardware implementationsincluding, but not limited to, an ASIC, programmable logic arrays andother hardware devices can likewise be constructed to implement some orall of the example methods and/or apparatus described herein, either inwhole or in part. Furthermore, alternative software implementationsincluding, but not limited to, distributed processing orcomponent/object distributed processing, parallel processing, or virtualmachine processing can also be constructed to implement the examplemethods and/or apparatus described herein.

It should also be noted that the example software and/or firmwareimplementations described herein are optionally stored on a tangiblestorage medium, such as: a magnetic medium (e.g., a disk or tape); amagneto-optical or optical medium such as a disk; or a solid statemedium such as a memory card or other package that houses one or moreread-only (non-volatile) memories, random access memories, or otherre-writable (volatile) memories; or a signal containing computerinstructions. A digital file attachment to e-mail or otherself-contained information archive or set of archives is considered adistribution medium equivalent to a tangible storage medium.Accordingly, the example software and/or firmware described herein canbe stored on a tangible storage medium or distribution medium such asthose described above or equivalents and successor media.

Although the present specification describes example components andexample functions that may be implemented with reference to particularstandard communication devices, and standards and/or protocols, no claimof this patent is limited to such devices, standards and/or protocolsunless explicitly so stated in the claim itself For example, standardsfor Internet and other packet switched network transmission (e.g., VoIP,Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)/IP, User Datagram Protocol (UDP)/IP,HTML, HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP), H.323, H.450-2, SIP, H.225,Q.931, T.37, TBCT, H.323 ECS) and circuit-based network transmission(e.g., DS1, Optical Carrier Level 48 (OC-48), etc.), and standardcommunication devices (e.g., gateways, gatekeepers, proxy servers,softswitches, softswitch/proxy servers, PSTN switches) representexamples of the state of the art. Such standards and/or devices areperiodically superseded by different, faster and/or more efficientequivalents. Accordingly, replacement devices, standards and protocolsto those disclosed herein are considered equivalents thereof.

The above disclosed subject matter is to be considered illustrative, andnot restrictive, and the appended claims are intended to cover any andall modifications, enhancements, and other examples which fall withinthe true spirit and scope of this patent. Thus, to the maximum extentallowed by law, the scope of the claims are to be determined by thebroadest permissible interpretation, and shall not be restricted orlimited by the foregoing detailed description.

Although certain example methods, apparatus and articles of manufacturehave been described herein, the scope of coverage of this patent is notlimited thereto. On the contrary, this patent covers all methods,apparatus and articles of manufacture fairly falling within the scope ofthe appended claims either literally or under the doctrine ofequivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method to authorize an outdial communicationservice call, the method comprising: parsing a request to obtain inputcriteria associated with the request, the request for authorizing theoutdial communication service call initiated by a message center;retrieving authorization rules correlating the input criteria to anauthorization result for the outdial communication service call, theinput criteria comprising a first input criterion having one of at leasttwo values, a first value indicating that the outdial communicationservice call is for a real-time outdial service initiated in response toan indial communication service received at the message center, a secondvalue indicating that the outdial communication service call is for anon-real-time outdial service initiated by an application serverassociated with the message center; and evaluating the authorizationrules using the input criteria to determine whether the outdialcommunication service call is authorized.
 2. The method as defined inclaim 1, wherein the authorization rules contain entries that aremodifiable.
 3. The method as defined in claim 1, further comprisingretrieving routing rules correlating the input criteria to a routingresult separate from the authorization result.
 4. The method as definedin claim 3, wherein the routing result is to indicate a local accesstransport area to route the outdial communication service call.
 5. Themethod as defined in claim 1, wherein the authorization result has oneof at least three values, the three values comprising: a first valueindicating that the outdial communication service call is authorized; asecond value indicating that the outdial communication service call isnot authorized; and a third value indicating that authorization of theoutdial communication service call is dependent upon further informationbeing provided.
 6. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein theauthorization rules include an exception to modify the authorizationresult based on a feature type of the outdial communication servicecall.
 7. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the authorizationrules are grouped according to a circuit type over which the outdialcommunication service call is to be routed.
 8. A tangible machinereadable storage medium comprising machine readable instructions which,when executed, cause a machine to perform operations comprising: parsinga request to obtain input criteria associated with the request, therequest for authorizing an outdial communication service call initiatedby a message center; retrieving authorization rules correlating theinput criteria to an authorization result for the outdial communicationservice call, the input criteria comprising a first input criterionhaving one of at least two values, a first value indicating that theoutdial communication service call is for a real-time outdial serviceinitiated in response to an indial communication service received at themessage center, a second value indicating that the outdial communicationservice call is for a non-real-time outdial service initiated by anapplication server associated with the message center; and evaluatingthe authorization rules using the input criteria to determine whetherthe outdial communication service call is authorized.
 9. The tangiblearticle of manufacture as defined in claim 8, wherein the authorizationrules contain entries that are modifiable.
 10. The tangible article ofmanufacture as defined in claim 8, wherein the operations furthercomprise retrieving routing rules correlating the input criteria to arouting result separate from the authorization result.
 11. The tangiblearticle of manufacture as defined in claim 10, wherein the routingresult is to indicate a local access transport area to route the outdialcommunication service call.
 12. The tangible article of manufacture asdefined in claim 8, wherein the authorization result has one of at leastthree values, the three values comprising: a first value indicating thatthe outdial communication service call is authorized; a second valueindicating that the outdial communication service call is notauthorized; and a third value indicating that authorization of theoutdial communication service call is dependent upon further informationbeing provided.
 13. The tangible article of manufacture as defined inclaim 8, wherein the authorization rules include an exception to modifythe authorization result based on a feature type of the outdialcommunication service call.
 14. The tangible article of manufacture asdefined in claim 8, wherein the authorization rules are groupedaccording to a circuit type over which the outdial communication servicecall is to be routed.
 15. An apparatus comprising: a memory havingmachine readable instructions stored thereon; and a processor to executethe instructions to perform operations comprising: parsing a request toobtain input criteria associated with the request, the request forauthorizing an outdial communication service call initiated by a messagecenter; retrieving authorization rules correlating the input criteria toan authorization result for the outdial communication service call, theinput criteria comprising a first input criterion having one of at leasttwo values, a first value indicating that the outdial communicationservice call is for a real-time outdial service initiated in response toan indial communication service received at the message center, a secondvalue indicating that the outdial communication service call is for anon-real-time outdial service initiated by an application serverassociated with the message center; and evaluating the authorizationrules using the input criteria to determine whether the outdialcommunication service call is authorized.
 16. The apparatus as definedin claim 15, wherein the authorization rules contain entries that aremodifiable.
 17. The apparatus as defined in claim 15, wherein theoperations further comprise retrieving routing rules correlating theinput criteria to a routing result separate from the authorizationresult.
 18. The apparatus as defined in claim 17, wherein the routingresult is to indicate a local access transport area to route the outdialcommunication service call.
 19. The apparatus as defined in claim 15,wherein the authorization result has one of at least three values, thethree values comprising: a first value indicating that the outdialcommunication service call is authorized; a second value indicating thatthe outdial communication service call is not authorized; and a thirdvalue indicating that authorization of the outdial communication servicecall is dependent upon further information being provided.
 20. Theapparatus as defined in claim 15, wherein the authorization rulesinclude an exception to modify the authorization result based on afeature type of the outdial communication service call.